Frenchman expelled for terror reasons (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, December 15 - A 23-year-old French citizen who had converted to radical Islam was deported Friday after being arrested for petty crime on August 29 near Cuneo. Already flagged by French authorities as a jihad sympathiser, the man mimed shooting the Carabinieri who arrested him. He also threatened to set off an explosive device, citing Allah.
    The man was found to have been radicalised during a stint in a jail in his home country, interior ministry sources said.
    He frequented members of extremist religious groups during his jail time, they said.
    The man was released from jail Thursday and Interior Minister Marco Minniti immediately signed the deportation order for State security reasons.
    He was repatriated to France via the border crossing at Ventimiglia.
    His deportation brought to 101 the expulsions from Italy in 2017, and to 233 since the start of 2015, of individuals gravitating in religious extremist milieux.
    Italy's anti-terror drive has been praised at the international level.
    So far the country has managed to avert the kind of terror attacks that have occurred in other European countries.
    photo: Interior Minister Marco Minniti (R) with Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti