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'Al Qaeda school' found in Italy | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Italian police say they have closed down a training centre for militants linked to al-Qaeda at a mosque in the central city of Perugia. | |
Three Moroccans, including the mosque's imam, have been arrested. Police are searching for a fourth Moroccan man. | |
Evidence of training in explosives and poisons, as well as instructions on flying a Boeing 747, were found, anti-terrorist officers said. | |
They say militants were being trained for suicide missions abroad. | |
Twenty foreign students were also arrested in a dawn raid connected to the arrests at the mosque. | |
Those without residence permits will be deported, police said. | |
Perugia is the home of Italy's University for Foreigners, where hundreds of students from the Middle East are enrolled in university courses in Italian and other subjects. | |
Chemicals | Chemicals |
Police say the suspects were running an "in-depth operation of instruction and training in the use of weapons and combat techniques suitable for terrorist acts". | Police say the suspects were running an "in-depth operation of instruction and training in the use of weapons and combat techniques suitable for terrorist acts". |
Chemicals - including acids and cyanide - were found in the mosque's cellar, officials said. | |
The detained men were named as Korchi el Moustapha, 41, an imam at the mosque at Ponte Felcino, and associates, Mohamed el Jari, 47, and Driss Safika, 46, Perugia police told AFP news agency. | |
Officers are reported to have spent two years investigating activities at the mosque. | Officers are reported to have spent two years investigating activities at the mosque. |
Italy's Interior Minister, Giuliano Amato, said it is now necessary to pay close attention to mosques being used for activities unrelated to religion. |