Italy expels Moroccan Islamic extremist: minister

A Moroccan Islamic extremist under suspicion of being dangerous to security has been expelled from Italy, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said in a statement released on Saturday.

Khalid Smina, 41, held a regular residence permit and was living in Imola, a city in northern Italy, Alfano said.

Investigators found Smina "had joined a fundamentalist practice of religion with a vocation for terrorism," the interior minister explained.

He said the Moroccan was found to belong to the same network of which a Tunisian arrested in 2008 in the same area for suspected "association with terrorism finalities" was part.

Alfano said a number of anti-terrorism forces have been deployed across Italy to cope with increased high terrorism alert. "As many as 30 people have been expelled since last December," he noted.

The center-left government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has recently introduced a decree to boost anti-terrorism legislation in the aftermath of January's deadly attacks in Paris and later in other countries.

Under the new package, which has already been implemented but is going through parliamentary vote to be transformed into a law, those found guilty of recruiting or supporting so-called foreign fighters would face tougher jail sentences.

The package also allows authorities to extend to terror suspects some preventive measures and tighter controls on the web as well as strip suspected militants of their passports and put them under special surveillance regime.

New penalties for illegally owning explosive or related raw materials were also introduced. Security has been tightened around public offices, places of worship, embassies and monuments in Italy's major cities. Endit