Anti-terrorism police arrested the Algerian cleric of a mosque and four Tunisians Sunday in a crackdown authorities said was aimed at preventing an al-Qaida-linked cell from sending suicide attackers to Iraq. The suspects were seized in pre-dawn raids in three cities in the northern Tuscany region, Genoa’s Police Chief Oscar Fiorolli said. Genoa, a northern port city, began the investigations that led to the arrests. The suspects allegedly belonged to a cell of Ansar al-Islam, an organization based in northern Iraq with links to al-Qaida, Fiorolli told the Associated Press in Rome in a telephone interview. “Their departure for Iraq was near,” Fiorolli said. “We don’t know where in Iraq they were going, but they were willing to be suicide attackers.” Fiorolli said the suspects’ alleged intentions were learned through telephone taps, and he indicated authorities decided to move in before the suspects could leave Italy. Full Story
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