Italy is a frontrunner in the fight against terrorism thanks to an efficient security system and intelligence, Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said on Monday.
"Our safety and public order network is excellent, while we lead Europe in intelligence investigation capacity," Maroni stressed at the presentation of the government's first report on global terrorism, Xinhua reported.
The paper focused on Jihad-linked terrorism, the evolution and transformation of Al-Qaeda since the 9/11 attack, the preventive, contrast measures able to crackdown on the phenomenon and the risks for Italy and Europe as a whole, according to an abstract by the minister's office.
Maroni urged for enhanced cooperation and information exchange between world countries as one of the most efficient tools in the global fight against terrorism, noting that today terrorists were scattered across boundaries without any pivotal logistical center.
What kept them united was merely ideology and a common enemy, which left them free to act whenever they wanted and without any external command, he said.
At the recent meeting on security, the interior minister repeatedly stressed the risk of what he called "home-made" terrorists, usually naturalized or foreign second-generation citizens that suddenly decided to adhere to terrorism.
These "home-made"terrorists are extremely difficult to identify and monitor, thus even more dangerous in that they fluently speak the language and know the country, highlighted Maroni.
According to the report, in the last 10 years 200 terrorism suspects have been arrested in Italy, of whom 47 convicted and 62 expelled from the country.
Despite the tight controls, the minister acknowledged that Italy still presented an "elevated terrorism risk."In order to further enhance security measures the government might soon decide to install body scanners in all of the country's train stations after their first, ongoing trial period at the three leading international airports.