5 Suspected Of Iraq Attack Plot

Police in Italy and Germany have arrested three North African men suspected of recruiting militants to carry out suicide attacks against coalition forces in Iraq, Italian and German officials said Friday.

The arrests were carried out as part of a wider probe in Italy into an alleged Islamic cell, and two people — an Iraqi man and a Tunisian woman — remained at large, the Interior Ministry in Rome said.

Milan prosecutors looking into the case have issued a total of five arrest warrants.

The leading suspect, a 29-year-old Algerian identified as Abderrazak Mahdjoub, was arrested in Germany. A police spokesman in Hamburg, Ralf Kunz, said he was arrested there at 7 a.m. Friday on the Italian warrant.

The man had already been arrested in Hamburg in July and released from custody a few months later for lack of evidence. At the time he was suspected of plotting to set off a bomb in Spain.

The two other suspects were picked up in Milan, the Interior Ministry said. They were identified as 20-year-old Housni Jamal from Morocco and 33-year-old Tunisian Bouyahia Maher Ben Abdelaziz.

The Ministry said that the Iraqi fugitive is believed to have fled to Syria, while the Tunisian woman, who was based in the northern Italian city of Padua, is believed to have gone home.

The Interior Ministry said the five suspects are accused of association with the aim of international terrorism — a charge that was introduced here after Sept. 11 to step up Italy's fight against suspected terrorists.

The ministry also confirmed earlier reports that a sixth suspect was arrested for allegedly providing logistical support and papers to the other five. The man, a Tunisian, was arrested Saturday.

The arrests were ordered by Milan Prosecutor Stefano Dambruoso, who has been leading investigations into alleged terror cells suspected of links with al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's network.

The operation was linked to the arrests in March and April of several suspects believed to help militants reach northern Iraq or move to other European countries such as Britain and Germany.

Those suspects were believed to have links to the extremist Islamic group Ansar al-Islam, which has been based in northern Iraq. U.S. officials believe Ansar al-Islam is linked to al Qaeda.

According to the investigators, Abderrazak had contacts with at least some of those suspects, including Moroccan Mohamed Daki and Somali Ciise Maxamed Cabdullaah, considered two key figures.

In one of many conversations wiretapped during the probe February and March, Abderrazak asked suspects to provide false documents for recruits, investigators said at the time.

Some Italian news reports also linked Abderrazak to a London-based Palestinian group known as Al Tahwid and suspected of recruiting terrorists.

Italy has put dozens of suspected terrorist behind bars over the past two years, following a series of probes mainly in the northern part of the country.