ITALY: JUDGE RULES THAT MOROCCANS HELD ON SUSPICION OF PLOTTING CHEMICAL ATTACK ON U.S. EMBASSY SHOULD BE HELD IN JAIL WHILE INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE

Record ID: 647868

  • Title: ITALY: JUDGE RULES THAT MOROCCANS HELD ON SUSPICION OF PLOTTING CHEMICAL ATTACK ON U.S. EMBASSY SHOULD BE HELD IN JAIL WHILE INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE
  • Date: 26th February 2002
  • Summary: (U5) ROME, ITALY (FEBRUARY 25, 2002) (REUTERS) (FOR DETAILS SHOTS 1 - 7 SEE PROD 2341/02) 1. SLV EXTERIORS OF U.S. EMBASSY; AMERICAN FLAG FLYING 2. POLICE ESCORT OUTSIDE EMBASSY; SLV FOUNTAIN INSIDE U.S. EMBASSY 3. MAN ENTERING U.S. EMBASSY 4. DEFENCE LAWYERS FOR MOROCCAN SUSPECTS ARRIVING FOR INTERVIEW 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) DOMENICO MARTELLI, DEFENCE LAWYER, SAYING "Apart from being a lawyer I am also an Italian citizen and we take care and are concerned about our fellow citizens, but these suspects, the people who we are representing, cannot be labelled as terrorists and even less as Muslim fundamentalists." (U6) ROME, ITALY (FEBRUARY 25, 2002) (REUTERS) 6. MV CARABINIERI AND SPECIALISTS IN WHITE SUITES WITH PICK AXES OUTSIDE U.S. EMBASSY; MV SPECIALIST CHECKING A DAMAGED PART OF THE PAVEMENT AND LIFTING UP MANHOLE COVER; MV SPECIALIST EXPLAINING TO COLLEAGUE THE WAY UNDERGROUND CHANNELS RUN ALONGSIDE EMBASSY; MV SPECIALISTS GETTING EQUIPMENT OUT OF CAR (11 SHOTS) 2.10 7. MV CARABINIERI WITH TAPE MEASURES MEASURING STREET 2.17 8. SLV POLICE ESCORT OUTSIDE U.S. EMBASSY 2.23 9. SLV STREET BEING MEASURED 2.29 10. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SPOKESMAN FOR U.S. EMBASSY IN ROME IAN KELLY SAYING " We take all incidents like this seriously. We are co-operating very closely with the Italian authorities and we are also taking very seriously these recent reports of the discovery of a hole in the tunnel running adjacent to the embassy compound." 2.51 11. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) KELLY, SAYING "It is at a very preliminary stage. Basically what you have seen in the press, in terms of the arrests and also the discovery of the hole in the tunnel, we don't have any proof that there was an attempt being planned against the embassy. We don't have any proof of any sort of direct connection between the suspects who have been arrested and the discovery of a hole in the tunnel running adjacent to the embassy." 3.31 12. MV KELLY SPEAKING TO MEDIA 3.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ROME, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVA31J8HIZKM3S9QI7L74WAFV4SC
  • Story Text: The judge in the case of eight Moroccans suspected of
    planning a chemical attack on the U.S. embassy in Rome has
    ruled they should stay in jail while investigations continue.

    A judicial source speaking on condition of anonymity,
    said the decision was made because they were possibly part of
    a fanatic terrorist organisation.

    Italian police have discovered a hole recently carved
    into an underground passageway next to the U.S. embassy and
    suspect terrorists were planning to plant a chemical bomb there.

    Last week police arrested four Moroccan men in possession
    of large quantities of a cyanide compound, explosive powder
    and maps of the water network around the U.S. embassy on the
    chic Via Veneto in the heart of Rome. Others were arrested earlier.

    Immediately after the arrests police and maintenance staff
    checked tunnels around the embassy complex that carry water,
    gas and electricity to buildings in the area. The hole was
    discovered during the investigations.

    Nine Moroccans are now in custody in connection with the
    case and they all deny wrongdoing. Eight of them are in Rome
    in the Regina Coeli prison and one turned himself in to
    authorities in the southern Calabria region.

    The judge presiding over the case has said all the
    suspects should remain in prison because it was difficult to
    explain why they had detailed maps of the embassy area.

    But defence lawyers for four of the eight Moroccans
    suspected of planning the chemical attack on the U.S. embassy
    said on Monday (February 25) they had asked a tribunal to
    review all elements in the case and had started their own
    investigation.

    Lawyer Domenico Martelli said the defence team had decided
    to carry out their own private investigation, which is now
    possible under recent changes in Italian law.

    "Apart from being a lawyer I am also an Italian citizen
    and we take care and are concerned about our fellow citizens,
    but these suspects, the people who we are representing, cannot
    be labelled as terrorists and even less as Muslim
    fundamentalists," Martelli said.

    Later, police and specialists dressed in white suits and
    armed with tape measures arrived at the Via Veneto, next to
    the U.S. embassy in the centre of Rome to measure and inspect
    underground channels late on Monday afternoon.

    The specialists lifted up manhole covers and took
    measurements relating to the underground channels, along the
    roads running next to the U.S. embassy. There did not seem to
    be any American presence with the Italian inspection team,
    despite the fact that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
    is said to be working closely with the Italians.

    "We take all incidents like this seriously. We are
    co-operating very closely with the Italian authorities and we
    are also taking very seriously these recent reports of the
    discovery of a hole in the tunnel running adjacent to the
    embassy compound," said spokesman for the U.S. embassy Ian
    Kelly Asked how the investigation was proceeding, Kelly said
    that it was at a very preliminary stage.

    "we don't have any proof that there was an attempt being
    planned against the embassy. We don't have any proof of any
    sort of direct
    connection between the suspects who have been arrested and the
    discovery of a hole in the tunnel running adjacent to the
    embassy," Kelly said.

    Nine Moroccans are now in custody in connection with the
    case and they all deny wrongdoing. Eight of them are in Rome
    and one turned himself in to authorities in the southern
    Calabria region.
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