Overview: Italy aggressively investigated and prosecuted terrorist suspects, dismantled terrorist-related cells within its borders, and maintained a high level of professional cooperation with international partners in all areas. Terrorist activity by domestic anarchists and other violent extremists remained a threat.

2013 Terrorist Incidents:

  • On May 14, NO TAV violent extremists protesting construction of the high-speed railway (TAV) attacked the TAV construction site in Val di Susa, Piedmont. A court later charged four with terrorism.

  • On June 18, Giuliano Ibrahim Delnevo, an Italian convert to Islam who had joined a radical faction of the Syrian opposition, was killed in Syria by government forces, according to press reports. Delnevo allegedly had conducted terrorist training and recruiting before joining the Syrian opposition.

  • On July 10, NO TAV violent extremists attacked the TAV construction site in Val di Susa, Piedmont, leaving 15 police officers injured. A court later charged 12 of the extremists with terrorism, the first time the Italian state had accused NO TAV protesters of that crime.

  • On October 4, a letter bomb addressed to journalist Massimo Numa was delivered to the office of the daily La Stampa in Turin, but the bomb failed to explode. The envelope holding the bomb also contained a letter mentioning NO TAV activities undertaken in September in Val di Susa.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: The Italian government continued to make use of reinforced counterterrorism legislation enacted in 2005 that facilitates detention of suspects, mandates arrest for crimes involving terrorism, and expedites procedures for expelling persons suspected of terrorist activities. Italian law enforcement remained advanced in its capacity to detect, deter, and respond to terrorist incidents.

The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) continued to implement a Memorandum of Cooperation with the United States, allowing the Transportation Security Administration to conduct aviation security assessments at three Italian commercial airports.

Law enforcement actions in 2013 included:

  • On April 30, police arrested four Tunisians in Milan, Catania, and Brussels accused of planning terrorist attacks in Italy and abroad as well as hate crimes. One of them, Hosni Hachemi Ben Hassen, was the imam of the Andria mosque in Puglia. Two other Moroccan and Tunisian suspects, identified in Tunisia, were put under investigation for the same crimes.

  • On May 16, a Brescia court convicted Moroccan national Mohamed Jarmoun to five years and four months in prison for participating in training for terrorist activities in Italy and abroad.

  • On May 19, the Ministry of Interior expelled Arman Ahmed El Hissini Helmy, alias Abu Imad, an Egyptian who had been imam of a Milan mosque until 2010. Helmy had already served a three-year sentence in a Benevento prison for recruiting and training violent extremists for terrorist activities abroad.

  • On June 12, Brescia police arrested Moroccan national El Abboubi Anas and charged him with establishing an Italian subsidiary of the radical international network Sharia4, as well as terrorist training and hate crimes. On June 18, a Brescia court ordered Anas' release because of insufficient evidence. Following his release Anas disappeared from Italy and in November posted pictures on Facebook revealing that he had joined the rebels fighting the Syrian government in Aleppo.

  • On July 29, police arrested 12 NO TAV violent extremists and charged them with terrorism for attacking the TAV construction site at Val di Susa on July 10.

  • On September 19, authorities arrested Gianluca Iacovacci and Adriano Antonacci, two affiliates of the Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front (IAF/IRF) near Rome. They were accused of terrorism for a series of 13 attacks against property committed between 2010 and 2013 in the province of Rome.

  • On November 12, a Genoa court convicted Alfredo Cospito and Nicola Gai to 10 and nine years in prison, respectively, for the 2012 kneecapping attack against Roberto Adinolfi, chief executive officer of the Ansaldo nuclear engineering company. The IAF had claimed responsibility for the incident.

  • On December 6, a Milan judge sentenced, in absentia, Egyptian national Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, to six years in prison for international terrorism. Formerly imam of a Milan mosque, he had established links with international terrorists with the aim of conducting terrorist attacks in Italy and abroad in 2000.

  • On December 9, police arrested four NO TAV violent extremists and charged them with terrorism for attacking the TAV construction site at Val di Susa on May 14.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Italy is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF); the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (Moneyval), a FATF-style regional body (FSRB); and has observer status with the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, an FSRB. Italy cooperated with foreign governments, including the United States, as an active member of the FATF and the Egmont Group. Italy also participated in the UNSCR 1267/1989 and 1988 designation process both as a sponsoring and co-sponsoring nation. There was no change in the approximately US $77,420 that the Government of Italy had frozen as part of its terrorist financing investigations.

Italy has several weaknesses that could make its system vulnerable to abuse by illicit actors. For example, Italy does not require that non-profit organizations send suspicious transaction reports according to the Italian Anti-Money Laundering Law. Reporting entities are, however, required to consider the specific Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing risks when entering in a relationship or carrying out transactions that involve non-profit organizations. In addition,

Italy does not routinely distribute the UN lists of designated terrorists or terrorist entities to financial institutions. Instead, the Italian FIU makes available the UN, EU, and OFAC lists of designated subjects and any subsequent amendments or additions by publishing it on its website.

For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Regional and International Cooperation: Italy is a founding member of the Global Counterterrorism Forum. Italy also supported counterterrorism efforts through the G-8 Roma-Lyon Group (including capacity building through the Counterterrorism Action Group), the OSCE, NATO, the UN, and the EU.

Countering Radicalization to Violence and Violent Extremism: The Ministry of Justice Penitentiary Police continued financing counter-radicalization programs to train 120 agents working in the four prisons where persons convicted of international terrorism were incarcerated.

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