Italy swoop on terror suspects

The suspects are accused of helping an Algerian militant group

About 170 Italian police have launched dawn raids in a swoop aimed at a group suspected of links to the al-Qaeda network.

At least six people - thought to be five Tunisians and a Moroccan - have been arrested in the raids, which took place in and around the northern city of Milan.

The raids were carried out by financial police, who targeted about 40 sites, including a mosque. An imam was said to be among those detained.

The raids were "were part of a major operation against international terrorism" co-ordinated by Milan prosecutor Luigi Orsi, said a police statement.

The suspects are accused of providing financial and logistical support to a militant Algerian group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

A judicial source said a seventh suspect was still being sought.

The charges against them are said to include abetting and financing a terrorist organisation, false accounting, involvement in illegal immigration, receiving counterfeit documents and trafficking in stolen cars.

Bin Laden claim

A police source said the men were not themselves suspected of carrying out terror attacks.

But police are investigating whether they were running businesses as "fronts" to raise money for the militants.

A Tunisian man was jailed in Milan last year for criminal association aimed at producing counterfeit documents and involvement in illegal immigration to Italy.

At the time of his arrest in April 2001, the man, 34-year-old Essid Sami bin Khemais, was thought by judges to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, although terror charges against him were not pursued.

Italian financial police are investigating a number of companies suspected of helping fund Islamic extremists.