Roundup: Security reinforced in Italy after Paris attacks

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Tuesday his government plans to invest an additional 1 billion euros (1.06 billion U.S. dollars) to strengthen the country's security.

"The Italian government is certain about the role of Italy: invest in security and international alliances, and also in culture and identity," he said.

Renzi said that Italy will not bombard Islamic State and insisted on the need of focusing instead on security cooperation and intelligence sharing at the intentional level, with the help of technology and databases, against the menace of terrorism.

"There will be storage of data that will slightly reduce our privacy, which however is indispensable at the moment," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told journalists on the sidelines of a conference on Tuesday.

According to the minister, the intelligence system in Italy is working well, though "no country is at zero risk against terrorism."

St. Peter's Square in Rome as well as Duomo cathedral and La Scala opera house in Milan have been listed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as being among the potential targets of terrorists.

Terror alert levels were raised to the highest, in particular in capital Rome.

A special security plan came into force on Monday, with some more 2,000 police officers deployed, while special troops for bacteriological or chemical weapons attacks remain on alert.

Surveillance and metal detectors will be increased in venues which are considered most likely at risk, on the public transport system and in crowded areas. A no-fly-zone will be enforced over Rome.

Extraordinary security measures were also announced for the opening night of the 2015-2016 season at La Scala opera house in Milan scheduled for Dec. 7, a traditional appointment attended by Italy's top officials.

The head of Rome's prefecture (an office representing the Italian government in any province) Franco Gabrielli said he expected that the unfounded bomb alarms that over the last few days caused distress in Rome and Milan will grow in number. He said every claim of suspected explosive device must be verified by police.

Controls were also reinforced over the immigration flow via Mediterranean sea into Italy. On Tuesday, police raided a migrant reception center and took to the immigration office for further checks some 40 migrants from north Africa, Eritrea and Ethiopia who had no documents with them.

The move came days after four Syrian nationals were arrested in Rome and Milan airports for trying to board planes bound for Malta with false passports. Police reportedly found images related to the IS group in two people's mobile phones.

On Tuesday, President Sergio Mattarella was among the thousands to pay tribute to Valeria Solesin, the Italian doctoral student who was among the 130 victims of the Paris attacks, as her funeral took place in Venice's St Mark's Square.

People of all faiths were invited by Valeria's parents to attend the ceremony.

"It is as if Valeria were our daughter," said Mohamed Amin Al Ahdab, the head of Venice's Muslim community. "We are here today to say that she was not killed in the name of our God, nor in the name of our religion, nor in our name," he said. Endit