Italian-Algerian high school student probed for terrorist propaganda

ROME, April 7 (Xinhua) -- An Italian-Algerian high school student in the northeastern city of Trieste has been busted by cyber terrorism police for spreading Islamist fundamentalist propaganda, Italian law enforcement announced Saturday.

The boy, who is underage, ran "two closed groups and several propaganda channels" hailing the so-called Islamic State (IS) extremist group on an app called Telegram, state police tweeted.

"He instigated other users to commit terrorist crimes and crimes against humanity," according to police.

"He translated texts claiming responsibility for terrorist attacks, taught supporters in Italy how to manufacture bombs, and claimed the existence of an active (terrorist) cell in Italy," the police tweet said.

Investigators believed the boy was planning to carry out an attack on his school with a home-made explosive device. Handwritten Arabic texts and a handmade IS flag were found in his backpack, and police seized computer equipment from the home where he lives with his family, ANSA news agency reported.

In a first for Italy, a judge has placed the boy in a "de-radicalization program" aimed at detaching him from extremist ideology, including with the help of a Muslim imam, or religious leader.

He still attending school, and his classmates and professors know he was the subject of an anti-terrorism probe, according to ANSA. Enditem