A 23-year-old Syrian was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of criminal association with intent to commit acts of international terrorism, Genoa police said.
Mahmoud Jrad, who lived in Varese, was about to return to Syria to join the Jabhat al-Nusra jihadist group, investigators believe. He had returned to Syria and been at a theatre of war in a year ago, sources said, having arrived in Italy in 2012. Six people are under investigation in relation to the probe that led to Jrad's arrest, including three Genoa-based imams.
The young man's brother and two other people who frequented mosques are the other people being probed. "Our work to prevent the terrorist threat is based in part on a mayor investigative effort and its precisely after a long, articulate investigation that today we have achieved another important result," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said in reaction to the arrest.
Also on Wednesday, a division of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) terror group threatened to attack Israel and conquer Rome. "This is just the beginning," a voice says on a 35-minute video by a group calling itself ISIS-Wilayat Sayna (ISIS-Sinai Province). "Our meetings will be held in Rome and Jerusalem...Jews will be severely punished and will soon pay a heavy price".
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