Rome flexes its muscles

Italy is cracking down hard on suspected terrorists and militant Islamists, reports Samia Nkrumah from Rome
In the past five months, since the events of 11 September, the Italian government has endeavoured to distinguish itself in the US-led war against terrorism, particularly in the area of intelligence work.
One aspect of this trend is a high level of coordination between American and European security and intelligence services in the hunt for suspected terrorists. This has resulted in more than 30 arrests, the freezing of more than 80 bank accounts, the alleged foiling of planned terrorist attacks and convictions of terrorist suspects by Italian courts.
In recent weeks the pace has accelerated. Police have arrested and detained more than a dozen suspects, most of them Moroccans and Algerians, but also a few Iraqis and one Pakistani man.
Among those recently arrested are eight Moroccans in whose apartment police found a toxic cyanide compound. The compound, potassium ferrocyanide, is potentially lethal in its gaseous form and could easily be used to kill large numbers of people.
In the same apartment police found maps of Rome marking the site of the American embassy as well as the tunnels leading to it which convey water pipes and electricity and telephone lines. These findings apparently led to the discovery of a large hole leading to one of the tunnels in a street near the US embassy, the implication being that the suspects or their associates could have gained entrance to the network of tunnels and placed a chemical bomb there.
However, after detaining and interrogating the Moroccans for a week, police sources admitted that they did not have evidence to link the discovery of the hole and the presence of compounds in the apartment. In other tunnels similar holes were found that were made and used by utility workers to transport equipment or communicate with each other. A few days after the holes were discovered, several reports quoted the US State Department as warning the public against jumping to conclusions based on speculation until investigations were completed. So far the investigators have found nothing significant.
The arrest of the Algerians, Iraqis and the Pakistani took place a few days ago. The Algerians, who were caught in raids on apartments and certain mosques at dawn, had been under observation since last summer. The Pakistani was detained at Rome's international airport upon his return from the hajj. There have been no reports linking the arrest of the Moroccans and this more recent round of detentions.
Meanwhile, for the first time, a court in Milan has convicted and handed down prison terms to three Tunisians on charges of breaking immigration laws and falsifying permits as well as associating with people with the intention of obtaining material for making bombs. The maximum sentence for these crimes, five years in prison, was given to one of the three, Essid Sami Ben Khemais. Khemais, who was arrested in April of last year, is said to have had telephone conversations with prominent Al-Qa'eda figures in other European countries.
Very little is known about the trial which was held behind closed doors and during which scant evidence was presented. Because they were tried under these circumstances, the men received reduced sentences. The case saw the prosecution invoke one of the new anti-terrorism laws which allows the authorities here to press charges against those suspected of being Al-Qa'eda members.
Khemais has been profiled in the media as an example of an undesirable immigrant. Having entered the country illegally, he failed to obtain stable work and integrate, turning instead to petty crime until he allegedly joined the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, an Algerian organisation reportedly connected to Al-Qa'eda. However, Khemais's trial did not reveal any evidence linking him directly to 11 September attacks.
In none of the cases reported has there been incontrovertible evidence linking those arrested with the perpetrators of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in September. Those arrested so far are believed to be minor elements in the world of terrorism whose main value is their potential to lead law enforcement officials to bigger fish in more powerful networks.
The anti-terrorism measures taken so far have been compatible with the government line of being tougher on crime and tightening immigration laws and are, consequently, serving the government's image well among its supporters. And as the impact of 11 September is manifested in an economic slowdown across Europe -- Italy's economy actually shrank in the last three months of 2001 -- leading to increased unemployment, it seemed almost inevitable that the tightening of security and immigration would follow.
This week, the Senate approved a bill that would make illegal immigrants liable to prison sentences if they returned to the country after having been deported for not having valid visas. The bill also allows authorities to expel illegal immigrants immediately, rather than detaining them in special centres from which some in the past have escaped.
The bill, which was criticised by the opposition and thousands of protesters earlier this year, is awaiting parliamentary approval. With the centre- right holding a majority in parliament, the government is not expected to face any difficulty in getting the bill passed.
The revelations of the presence of alleged terrorists in Italy coincide with a period of growing unease about the government's attempts to concentrate power in the hands of the prime minister. The opposition's anger has been mounting due to several controversial bills that have been passed in parliament this year.
During the weekend, 120,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Rome to protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conflict of interest bill, which was passed during the week. Protesters were angered because the bill does not render illegal the situation in which Berlusconi, who owns Italy's three main private television channels, is empowered as prime minister to select the boards of directors of the three state television channels. Through ownership and prime ministerial prerogative, Berlusconi in effect controls more than 90 per cent of the country's television broadcasting services.
Adding to the heightened fears about security, an explosion went off near the Interior Ministry building without resulting in any casualties. The explosion was said by police to resemble incidents in the past that had been attributed to anarchists. Based on tourists' eyewitness accounts, three young white men were seen walking away from the site shortly before the explosion occurred. The interior minister supported the view that the explosion was probably the work of domestic extremist groups and rejected suspicions that the culprits might be linked to foreign networks of Muslim extremists.
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