Two arrested + mosques raided in terror probe

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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1. Exterior police headquarters 2. Photographers waiting in front of building 3. Various of assembled journalists 4. Pictures of the four men arrested 5. Camera 6. Still of Abdel Kader Mahmoud (also known as Abdelkadir Es-Sayed), alias Abu Saleh 7. Still of Chekkouri Yassine 8. Police woman holding photographs 9. Still of Abdelhalim Hafed Remadna, alias Jalloul 10. Still of Benattia Nabil, alias Abu Salim 11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Leo Sesti, Espresso magazine journalist "The four people arrested today are members of, or alleged, members of al-Qaida. The most important man of these four is an Algerian born man. His name is Abdelhalim Remadna. He was arrested, in fact he was arrested two weeks ago but another order for the arrest of this man was issued yesterday so now he is in jail. Why this man is so important is because according to wire taps he was heard talking to a man in Saudi Arabia and those two men were exchanging information about an Italian chemist. An Italian chemist who has a university degree in chemistry, maybe we can suggest that he could be used for chemical weapons." 12. General view of Via Jenner - location of Islamic mosque linked to suspected Algerian terrorist 13. General view of Via Quaranta - location of an Islamic Centre and Mosque suspected by Italian police to have links with al-Qaida. STORYLINE: Italian authorities raided several Islamic centers in northern Italy early on Thursday and arrested Yassine Chekkouri of Morocco and Nabil Benattia of Tunisia. The men are accused of recruiting fighters for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, according to police. Police said a third person was already detained in Milan, Abdelhalim Hafed Remadna of Algeria. An Egyptian suspected of being a key bin Laden operative, Abdelkadir Es-Sayed, (Abdel Kader Mahmoud) remained at large. Remadna and Chekkouri both worked at Milan's Islamic Cultural Centre and mosque, which U.S. officials say served as the base of bin Laden's operations in Europe. Italian investigators, sharing U.S. concerns, have been watching the centre for months and police raided it overnight along with another Milan mosque and several Islamic centres in northern Italy. In recent months, police have arrested a dozen people in and around Milan as part of the investigation, but Remadna and Chekkouri were the first people directly affiliated with the centre to have been detained. Inside Remadna's offices at the center, police seized a false Yemeni passport, a false Italian driver's license and faxes of a map indicating how to get to Afghanistan through the Iranian border. Police say that faxes, as well as wiretaps of telephone conversations between Remadna and bin Laden operatives in Afghanistan, showed that in recent months, new recruits to al Qaida were advised to enter Afghanistan from Iran because it was easier than crossing the border from Pakistan. The wiretaps were also said to have revealed codes that bin Laden's operatives used to indicate they needed new fighters, saying they were opening a new gymnasium and needed new gym instructors. Police initially said Remadna and the two other people arrested as well as the Egyptian who remains at large, were all suspected of criminal association aimed at possessing explosives and dangerous chemicals and producing false documents. Deputy chief of Italy's anti-terrorism police, Bruno Megale, said the key charges against the men were criminal association, producing false documents, arranging clandestine immigration and recruiting combatants to fight in Afghanistan. Remadna was arrested November 14, charged with having fake Italian residency documents as he was boarding a train. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9050f2c8cd67846c3de86220af85d3a5 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork