Security
Terrorism: Iraq suspect arrested in northern Italy
Venice, 1 Oct. (AKI) - Italian police have arrested an Iraqi man on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack on US military bases in Iraq. Saber Fadhi Hussien, was detained near Venice last Friday during an early morning raid, Carabinieri paramilitary police said.
Hussien, a former member of late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's disbanded Baath Party, is allegedly the head of an al-Qaeda cell. He was arrested at the airport as he was boarding a plane bound for Damascus, via the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
The cell was allegedly planning attacks using suicide bombers, anti-tank weapons and ultra-light helicopters, according to investigators. They said Hussien was intending to travel to Syria and meet a contact for al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Police said he had been in touch with aides of the group's founder, the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed last year in Iraq by a US airstrike.
The ultra-light helicopters can fly low enough to avoid radar and could transport up to 250 kilogrammes of explosives. It is believed to be the first time terrorist groups in Iraq have considered using light aircraft to overcome the tight security surrounding international forces in the country.
Hussien was also alleged to be planning a strike against a Sunni tribe in western al-Anbar province because it has turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Venice prosecutors have been probing Hussien since the end of 2006. He has an elegant apartment in the centre of Padua, where he and his family ran a pizza and kebab shop. He has lived in Italy for 25 years.
Prosecutors said Hussien had been providing logistical support for an al-Qaeda cell in Iraq for some time, sending around 4,200 euros a month to Iraq for the purchase of weapons and to recruit suicide bombers.
The mild-mannered soft-spoken Iraqi regularly attended Islamic centres in Padua and Venice. Evidence uncovered against him include tapped phone conversations and a photo found at his home showing Hussien posing between two armed Kalashnikov-touting militants apparently taken in the Syrian or Iraqi desert.
The judge who ordered Hussein's arrest also ordered searches of the homes of three other Iraqis in the Venice area. The searches turned up maps and other documents, but there was not enough evidence to arrest the three, police said.
The police searches also turned up the names of Hussien's contacts in Iraq, which they said would be relayed to Iraqi police and US authorities.
Hussien, a former member of late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's disbanded Baath Party, is allegedly the head of an al-Qaeda cell. He was arrested at the airport as he was boarding a plane bound for Damascus, via the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
The cell was allegedly planning attacks using suicide bombers, anti-tank weapons and ultra-light helicopters, according to investigators. They said Hussien was intending to travel to Syria and meet a contact for al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Police said he had been in touch with aides of the group's founder, the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed last year in Iraq by a US airstrike.
The ultra-light helicopters can fly low enough to avoid radar and could transport up to 250 kilogrammes of explosives. It is believed to be the first time terrorist groups in Iraq have considered using light aircraft to overcome the tight security surrounding international forces in the country.
Hussien was also alleged to be planning a strike against a Sunni tribe in western al-Anbar province because it has turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Venice prosecutors have been probing Hussien since the end of 2006. He has an elegant apartment in the centre of Padua, where he and his family ran a pizza and kebab shop. He has lived in Italy for 25 years.
Prosecutors said Hussien had been providing logistical support for an al-Qaeda cell in Iraq for some time, sending around 4,200 euros a month to Iraq for the purchase of weapons and to recruit suicide bombers.
The mild-mannered soft-spoken Iraqi regularly attended Islamic centres in Padua and Venice. Evidence uncovered against him include tapped phone conversations and a photo found at his home showing Hussien posing between two armed Kalashnikov-touting militants apparently taken in the Syrian or Iraqi desert.
The judge who ordered Hussein's arrest also ordered searches of the homes of three other Iraqis in the Venice area. The searches turned up maps and other documents, but there was not enough evidence to arrest the three, police said.
The police searches also turned up the names of Hussien's contacts in Iraq, which they said would be relayed to Iraqi police and US authorities.
Bookmark whit:
