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Italy says won't be intimidated by militant threats
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-16 08:53 Italy will not be intimidated
by threats from Muslim militants but cannot dismiss the possibility of an
eventual attack, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said on Sunday, after a group
claiming al Qaeda links vowed to strike.
The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades called on its fighters to hit "all targets" in
Italy after its Aug. 15 deadline for Italian troops to quit Iraq was
ignored.
Another Islamist group threatened to attack Italy and the Netherlands if they
do not withdraw troops from Iraq, according to an Internet statement posted on
Sunday.
The threat from a group calling itself Islamic Tawhid was posted as the
deadline set by Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades expired. It was not possible to
verify the authenticity of the latest statement.
The Netherlands has 1,300 troops in Iraq.
Pisanu told reporters militants were using the media to hype their threats
and played down reports that a van packed with explosives might have crossed
into Italy from France.
"We are not underestimating (the threats) but we are not going to let
ourselves be frightened and we will continue with the heightened security
measures we have put in place," he said.
The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades has repeatedly threatened to hit Italy if it
kept troops in Iraq and on Sunday said it would now put words into action.
"Today we have declared the start of a bloody war and, by the will of God,
the ground will shake beneath the feet of each and every Italian," said a
statement posted on the Internet.
U.S. officials say the group's links to al Qaeda are unclear and some
security analysts have questioned its credentials.
The same group last year said it was responsible for a blackout on the East
Coast of the United States that was later shown to have been caused by technical
problems.
However, Rome is worried that militants possibly based in Italy might act on
the Internet messages and officials say security has been tightened across the
country this holiday weekend.
"We do not rule out the risk that dormant or partially active terrorist
groups, or even individuals might suddenly mobilize themselves and strike
directly against the national territory, even without direct input from abroad,"
Pisanu said.
Corriere della Sera newspaper reported on Sunday that police had launched a
nationwide hunt for a white Ford transit van that crossed the French-Italian
border on early on Saturday morning, amid fears that it might be packed with
explosives.
The paper said a stretch of the Milan-Turin motorway in northern Italy was
closed for more than an hour on Saturday evening after a sighting that turned
out to be a false alarm.
Pisanu said the van was just one of a number of potential leads the security
services were evaluating. "There is nothing particularly alarming," he added.
"By now, we know that nowhere in the world can be considered safe, but we
will not let ourselves be overcome by fear."
Nineteen Italians were killed in Iraq last year when a suicide bomber
attacked a paramilitary police base in the southern city of
Nassiriya.
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