Italian police have arrested a Muslim cleric for extradition to his native Morocco to face terrorism charges linked to suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003. Police said in a statement that Abdelmajid Zergout, imam of a mosque in Varese, was arrested on Saturday at his home in the northern city.Zergout, aged 43 and also known as Abou Al Bara, had already been arrested in Italy in 2005, along with two other Moroccans, on suspicion of raising funds and recruiting for the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group. The group was blamed for the 2003 Casablanca attacks in which 45 people were killed, including 12 suicide bombers.
Zergout and the other two men were acquitted by a Milan court last year but faced expulsion. This was suspended at the urging of the European Court of Human Rights which argued that they would face mistreatment by authorities back in Morocco. However, the latest arrest was in response to a fresh Moroccan extradition request dating from the end of July, on more serious charges of "participating in acts of terrorism".
Zergout's Italian defence lawyer, Luca Bauccio, said the new charges had been "fabricated against an innocent man who has not set foot in Morocco for 10 years". The lawyer said he would be appealing against the extradition request. An Italian anti-terrorism law passed after the July 2005 suicide bombings on London's transport system allows authorities to quickly expel foreigners considered a threat to security.