Government to approve anti-terror laws

(ANSA) - Rabat, January 27 - The Italian government is set to approve a new anti-terrorism package including measures against foreign fighters, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday.
    "The government is playing close attention to the risk of a return of foreign fighters and will approve the new measures in this direction tomorrow (Wednesday)," Gentiloni said.
    However, "there is no need to give messages that confuse terrorism with the generic phenomenon of immigration," the minister continued.
    "To think that the terrorists arrive in boats on our coasts not only is not confirmed by the information but risks being a message that is politically incorrect," Gentiloni concluded.
    His comments came after a statement made during a summit on the militant Islamic State (ISIS) in London last week concerning the risk that terrorists could be among the waves of thousands of migrants who arrive in Italy from North Africa every year sparked controversy. The government has been mulling new anti-terror legislation since Islamist terrorists linked to Al Qaeda killed 17 people in three days of terror in Paris earlier this month. Measures under consideration include introducing up to 10 years in prison for foreign fighters, confiscating suspects' passports, making organizing combatants' trips a crime, cracking down on explosives, and setting up a national anti-terrorism directorate.