Italian foreign minster Angelino Alfano on Monday urged the international community to rapidly act to defeat terrorism, which he said shared similarities with the mafia organised crime syndicates.
Like the mafia terrorism "is a human phenomenon that like all human phenomena is based on a principle, evolves and has an end", Alfano said.
"It is up to us to hasten this end," Alfano stated, urging countries in the Mediterranean region to act together.
Alfano was speaking at the Mediterranean Dialogues summit in Rome which is being attended by 45 heads of state and government from Thursday through Saturday.
"Vile" terror attacks like last week's assault on a Sufi mosque in Egypt in which over 300 people were killed must be prevented in future, Alfano stressed.
"We must act soon - immediately - in a medium-to-long-term perspective," Alfano said, recalling that Italy is a member of the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.
