Italy agreeing to a request from the United States to take some inmates from Guantanamo Bay prison would ''not increase citizens' safety'', Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said Wednesday, reiterating his opposition to the idea.
''I am against taking them, at least if they can't be kept in prison,'' he said. ''Otherwise it would mean that they come here and they're free to wander around and this does not increase citizens' safety.
''Accommodating (even) two, three, four more terrorists does nothing to increase safety,'' he said, adding that he would however ''respect the decision that the government makes''.
Maroni's comments came a week after Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Italy was willing to help the US by taking on some inmates, but that it must take account of what other European countries do.
In an interview with CNN, Berlusconi said that if Italy ''can do the American people and the American government a favour, we will certainly do it''.
Asked if Italy was ready to take ''ten, 15, 20 detainees'' the premier said: ''I don't know, the cabinet still hasn't discussed the issue, so I can't say. Certainly our intention is to do whatever is possible to give the US a hand. We can't think that they alone fight for all of us. Terrorism is something that involves us all''.
In one of his first moves after taking office, US President Barack Obama said he would shut down the controversial camp by the end of the year.
However, the US Senate last month denied Obama the 80 million dollars he needs to shut down the prison, calling for more detailed plans on the destination of the foreign terrorism suspects held there.
The camp was set up in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in January 2002 to house suspected terrorists following the September 11 attacks in the US by al Qaeda.
It currently holds some 240 detainees, many of whom have been held for years without being charged.
The US has asked the EU to take inmates who cannot go back to their home countries but the EU has left the matter up to individual states.
