(ANSA) - Brescia - An Italian judge handed out the nation's first convictions for international terrorism on Wednesday, finding two Islamists guilty of belonging to a terror cell operating out of a mosque in Cremona.
Among the evidence presented by prosecutors was the testimony of another Islamist, Chokri Zouaoui, who said the cell planned attacks on the Milan underground and Cremona's biggest church in 2002.
Searches carried out by police reportedly turned up printed speeches and leaflets urging Muslims to join the Jihad, or Holy War, and a document apparently signed by Osama bin Laden.
Investigators also found traces of money being sent to a training camp in Iraqi Kurdistan, Italian newspapers said. Former imam Mohamed Rafik was sentenced to four years years three months in jail and Kamel Hamroui to three years four months.
They were the first people to be convicted of international terrorism in Italy. The crime was inserted into law books in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States four years ago. A third defendant, Najib Rouass, was sentenced to one year and four months for a lesser crime. Romdhane Ben Khir was acquitted. Another six people who allegedly belonged to the same
Cremona terror cell are currently on trial in separate proceedings in the northern city.
The four whose cases were decided in Brescia on Wednesday opted for accelerated trial procedures which involve sentence reductions of a third.
