Suspected foreign fighter arrested in Italy

Italian police on Monday arrested a suspected foreign fighter, a 25-year-old Moroccan, near Cosenza, a town in southern Italy, local reports said.

Hamil Mehdi, a street vendor, was arrested at dawn by anti-terrorism units in the village of Luzzi where he and his family live, ANSA news agency reported.

Italian police had been investigating Mehdi since he went to Istanbul last July but Turkish authorities sent him back to Italy for reasons of "public security," saying that he was attempting to reach Syria and join Islamic State (IS) militants.

Turkish police had reportedly found in his bag a pair of army trousers, an Islamist book, two cell phones and 800 euros (around 866 U.S. dollars) in cash.

The Moroccan reportedly denied any wrongdoing when he was arrested in Italy on Monday, saying that he had visited Turkey only with the objective "to pray."

Italian police said their investigation revealed Mehdi had a "dogged interest for images, websites and propaganda films referring to IS" and was "using communication platforms which are different from the usual ones" in order to keep in contact with the terrorist organization and prepare for the war.

They said Mehdi had been training himself for the IS cause and planned to move to Belgium, and that he was adopting some "expedients" in his communication canals to avoid being intercepted by police.

Luzzi Mayor Manfredo Tedesco said he was "surprised" by the arrest, according to Rai state television. "I knew him, his family has been living in Luzzi for many years and they are integrated into our community," he was quoted as saying by Rai.

"In fact, many of these families have been helped by the municipality to integrate themselves in the community, for example we give them some support for their children to attend school, and we have never had problems so far," Tedesco added.

According to Corriere della Sera newspaper, Mehdi arrived in Luzzi in 2006 with his parents and brothers. All of them have permanent stay permits and his brothers, all younger than him, attend school regularly.

"The arrested Moroccan is the classic foreign fighter," local prosecutor Giovanni Bombardieri was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "We had been monitoring him constantly after he was expelled from Turkey," he added.

Italy last April introduced an anti-terrorism law with tougher measures for people considered dangerous to national security.

Based on the new law, those found guilty of trying to go abroad to join IS forces or recruiting other foreign fighters would face a sentence up to eight years in jail which increases to up to 10 years for "sole wolves" who train in Italy with the goal to carry out terror attacks here. Endit