The FBI has warned the
Italian authorities that St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Milan
cathedral and the La Scala opera house are among the potential
targets of Islamist terrorists, ANSA sources said.
The FBI also gave the Italian authorities the names of
five Arab individuals who could be in Italy and should be
searched for, the sources said.
As signs of terror 'psychosis' or hysteria emerged with
three bomb scares on the Rome metro and one at Milan's Duomo
station, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said authorities and
security services were working as hard as they could to find the
five suspects.
The United States embassy in Rome late on Wednesday
released a security message to the same effect as the FBI alert
following last week's attacks by Islamist terrorists in Paris in
which 129 people died.
"U.S. Embassy Rome informs U.S. citizens that the
following locations have been identified as potential targets in
Rome and Milan for terrorist attacks: St. Peter's Basilica in
Vatican City (Rome), The Duomo and La Scala in Milan".
It added that general venues such as churches, synagogues,
restaurants, theatres, and hotels in both cities are possible
targets as well
"Terrorist groups may possibly utilize similar methods
used in the recent Paris attacks," it said.
"The Italian authorities are aware of these threats.
"U.S. citizens are advised to remain vigilant and aware of
their surroundings.
"We encourage U.S. citizens to monitor media and local
information sources and factor updated information into personal
travel plans and activities".
As well as saying Italy was striving to find the five
named individuals, Gentiloni also ruled out the possibility that
Italy or its Western allies will send ground troops to Syria to
combat ISIS.
"No one will lay their boots in Syria," Gentiloni told
State broadcaster RAI.
"Not (French President Francois) Hollande, nor (US
President Barack) Obama, nor us".
"We are prepared to help out French brothers, but neither
us, not them, nor the Americans will carry out a Syrian
expedition.
"I don't believe France will dispatch a military task
force to Syria. We are all aware, France included, that the
solution to the Syrian crisis is a political solution. We don't
need to repeat mistakes already made in Iraq or Libya", added
Gentiloni.
"We can find a path to remove Assad without leaving a void
that nowadays would be occupied by Daesh or al-Nusra, two
terrorist organisations.
"This is our job in Syria and it must be undertaken with
steady resolve, without particularly bombastic proclamations".
Gentiloni raised the possibility of "coordination"
with Russia in a possible future alliance against Islamic State.
"We consider the prospect to be a useful development,"
Gentiloni said.
Such a possibility might have seemed "science fiction"
only two or three months ago, he added.
Earlier this week Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti ruled
out the possibility of Italy conducting military operations
against ISIS in Syria, but said that Rome was increasing the
number of Italian soldiers involved in training in Iraq.
Gentiloni also said the US embassy in Rome has advised
tourists to remain vigilant in certain locations in Italy but
not to refrain from travelling there.
"This makes the difference," Gentiloni added in reference
to the security note issued by the embassy earlier in the day
warning that St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Duomo and La
Scala in Milan are among potential targets for terrorist
attacks.
"I believe the interior minister has said on several
occasions that the level of alert is very high," Gentiloni
continued.
"We always take security warnings very seriously,
especially in the case of the United States," he added.
"However, I repeat: first, we must not become prisoners of
this alarm because it would be a gift to Daesh (ISIS); second,
the alarm in Italy exists, there is no European country that can
consider itself to be outside this dynamic," Gentiloni said.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the government
would not underestimate the FBI terror alert on St Peter's, the
Milan Duomo and La Scala but neither would it give in to
"alarmism".
He said "the level of alert is what we announced and our
guard...is even stronger since yesterday afternoon".
Security has already been beefed up in Rome.
Security is also to be ratcheted up in Milan with an
additional 250 police officers present on the city streets for
around a month, ANSA sources said Thursday.
More personnel will also be brought in to monitor the
images captured by video surveillance cameras around the city.
The measures, designed to boost security in the busy run-up
to Christmas and for the opening of the 2015-2016 season at La
Scala opera house on December 7, were finalised at a meeting in
the prefecture later in the day.
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