Spotlight: Italy has key counter-terrorism role in Europe: experts

With the eyes of Europe following the continent's efforts to confront potential terror threats, experts say that Italy, which has a long history of battling organized crime organizations,among others, has a key role to play, especially in intelligence gathering.

Risks of terror attacks again became front-page news after a series of coordinated attacks on Nov. 13 in Paris that left at least 129 people dead and sparked an international manhunt that is still going on.

Italy was also involved when it was reported that a car driven by a suspect crossed from France into Italy, and the country has been on high alert ever since the attacks.

As Europe turns from reacting to the tragedy in Paris to preventing similar attacks in the future, experts say Italy will play an important role, especially in regard to intelligence gathering.

One piece of big news regarding terror threats last week was a roundup of 16 terror suspects across Europe, including seven suspects in Italy, orchestrated by Italian intelligence figures.

Giuseppe Governale, Italy's anti-terrorism chief, called the arrests "the most important international police operation to take place in Europe in the last 20 years."

Some measures were eclipsed by the manhunt that followed the attacks in Paris. But a spokesman for Governale's office told Xinhua the multi-nation sting operation illustrated that Italian intelligence services can play a role in Europe's counter-terrorism efforts.

Raffaelle Marchetti, an international relations professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, said that Italy has some advantages over other European states in confronting terror threats.

Compared with France, Britain, and Spain, Italy has less problems than these former colonial empires, Marchetti said, adding "the country has also maintained strong ties in many parts of the Islamic world that can lead to new insights."

Other analysts have said that Italy's long history of battling organized crime organizations could give the country another advantage.

But even with its role in confronting terror threats, Italy knows it still remains a potential target. Since the Paris attacks, Italy has been on high alert, with at least four evacuations of public spaces due to terror alarms, and messages sent out by foreign embassies warming their citizens in Italy to be wary of popular tourist spots.

Antonio Moccio, a security consultant who works with United Nations agencies in Italy, said that Italy's challenge is to strike the right balance.

"Italy must be vigilant in guarding against domestic threats or possible connections to networks that could strike beyond Italy's borders," Moccio told Xinhua.

"But it must do so without taking unnecessary steps or creating a panic. That is an increasingly difficult challenge," Moccio said. Endi