A conservative lawmaker called for a register of Italy's mosques and Muslim clerics after an imam was arrested Friday in the northern city of Bergamo on suspicion of being the spiritual leader of a terrorist group.
The imam was among 18 Pakistanis and Afghans arrested in Italy on Friday in what police called a "vast" operation against an alleged Al-Qaeda-inspired group plotting attacks South Asia as well against the Vatican.
"This shows how urgent it is to pass laws regulating Muslim religious communities in Italy and their mosques," said Daniela Santanche, a lawmaker with Silvio Berlusconi's conservative Forza Italia party.
The imam arrested in Bergamo collected money from Afghans and Pakistanis in the Bergamo area, purportedly for religious purposes.
He and other alleged group members sent the cash to Pakistan, mainly through the Islamic trust-based transfer system known as hawala to avoid Italy's currency control regulations.
The group was planning attacks against Pakistan's government and US forces in Afghanistan, according to police. It also trafficked Pakistani and Asian migrants to Europe, police said.
Forza Italia this week presented a proposal for a national register of mosques and imams to the Italian parliament, Santanche said.
