Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

On March 27, Venice prosecutors ordered the arrest of five members of the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) accused of extortion. They allegedly had forced several Turkish
nationals to regularly pay up to US $6,783 as contribution for the operations of the PKK.
On June 13, police arrested eight members of the Informal Anarchist Federation (IAF), a
network that claimed responsibility for letter bombs sent to: the director of a center for
migrants in Gradisca d’Isonzo; Bocconi University in Milan; a Deutsche Bank office in
Frankfurt; an office of the national tax agency in Rome; and the Greek ambassador in
Paris. The group reportedly cooperated with the Swiss and Spanish anarchists, Marco
Camenisch and Gabriel Pombo de Silva.
On September 11, the Cassation Court confirmed the May 24 ruling of a Milan appeals
court that had sentenced11 members of the Red Brigades to prison terms between 14
months and 11 years and six months for two attacks against offices of political parties
and for a conspiracy against a senator and a senior labor expert. Another defendant was
acquitted.
On September 13, Genoa police arrested Nicola Gai and Alfredo Cospito, members of
IAF, accused of the May 7 terrorist attack against Roberto Adinolfi.
On September 25, the Ministry of Interior announced the arrest and expulsion of two
Libyans suspected of violent extremist proselytism and planning a violent attack. The two
were injured during the conflict in Libya and had traveled to Rome for medical treatment.
On October 4, Italy extradited an al-Qa’ida (AQ) member to the United States who is
charged with conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, conspiracy to bomb a government
facility, conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and use
of firearms and explosives. He travelled from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan in 2001,
where he attended AQ training camps and later fought in tribal areas of Pakistan against
U.S. and Coalition Forces.
Countering Terrorist Finance: Italy worked closely with the United States on anti-money
laundering and information sharing, and cooperated with other foreign governments as an active
member of the Financial Action Task Force and the Egmont Group. Italy also participated in the
UNSCR 1267/1989 and 1988 designation process, both as a sponsoring and co-sponsoring
nation. As of October, the Italian Guardia di Finanza and Anti-Mafia Investigative Unit had
carried out more than 500 money-laundering investigations and seized more than 120 million
euros (US $162,800,000) in laundered money. In 2012, the Italian Treasury’s Financial
Information Unit upgraded its technology resources and training it provides to financial entities
to improve the rate and quality of suspicious transaction reports. For further information on
money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the 2013 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 and Violent Extremism The Ministry of Justice Penitentiary Police
continued financing an NGO-administered counter-radicalization program to place imams in the
three prisons where Muslims convicted of terrorism were incarcerated. To counter potential
radicalization, the Ministry of Interior conducted training in September for more than 1,000 law
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