Islamic State militants are entering Italy disguised as asylum-seekers and are trying to recruit other refugees to the jihadist cause, rightwing lawmaker Roberto Calderoli claimed on Wednesday.
"Our intelligence services and NATO have warned of the danger of jihadist foreign fighters infiltrating the hoardes of migrants landing in Italy," said Calderoli, who is a Senator for the anti-immigrant Northern League party.
"They are staying here for at least a year while their asylum applications are processed," he continued.
"Today's arrest in Italy of a Somali cleric who was plotting an attack in Rome and proselytising among his fellow asylum-seekers confirms this," Calderoli added.
He was referring to the arrest of an imam in the southern Italian city of Campobasso on suspicion of inciting other asylum-seekers to commit jihadist terror attacks including on Rome's central rail station.
"Let's open our eyes. When are we going to wake up? These asylum-seekers are Trojan horses for Islamist Jihad. Today's arrest is just the beginning," Calderoli warned.
In 2006, Calderoli lost a ministerial post in a centre-right government led by former premier Silvio Berlusconi for appearing on TV wearing a T-shirt with cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad offensive to Muslims.
The following year, he further outraged Muslims by calling for a 'Pig Day' protest against the planned construction of a mosque in Italy's northern city of Bologna and threatened to walk his pet pig on the site to 'defile' it.
In 2013, Calderoli sparked fresh controversy when he told a Northern League rally in Treviglio that Congo-born integration minister Cecile Kyenge reminded him of an orangutan.
