Italian authorities expelled a radical Algerian imam has been expelled from Italy after it emerged that he ordered Muslim pupils to cover their ears during music lessons at their local primary school.
The 36-year-old imam, who was based at an Islamic community centre in the northern city of Vicenza was deported on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.
The imam "represented a threat to state security" according to police.
The man preached radic Islam, told children attending his centre that listening to music was sinful, and also instilled hostility to western culture and encouraged the children to plan violence against the West when they grew up, according to witnesses cited by investigators.
Police began investigating the imam in January and discovered he had imam had close contact with radical Islamists and shunned Italians unless they had converted to Islam.
The man had been in Italy since 2002 and now risks a four-year prison term if he re-enters the country in the next ten years.
