A file photo for Mamour

Additional Reporting By Ahmad Maher, IOL Staff

ROME, November 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Italian government late Monday, November 17, decided to deport an imam of a mosque on the grounds that he posed a threat to public security for warning of the possibility of terrorist attacks and making statements supporting Al-Qaeda terror network.

Abdel Qadir Fadlallah Mamour, an imam in Carmagnola near the northern city of Turin, is said to have had interviews with Italian media, in which he claimed that he had fought alongside Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and supported the November 12 attack on an Italian base in occupied Iraq, which killed 17 Italian soldiers, statements criticized by a Muslim activist as "reckless and illogical."

The deaths of the 12 Carabinieri officers, their five military colleagues have shocked a country which remains divided over Italy's military involvement in Iraq.

A statement from Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said Mamour would be expelled "for disturbing public order and being a danger to state security", reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Mamour, a Senegalese national, has been further under investigation by Italy's DIGOS anti-terrorist police for alleged illicit fundraising and links to a terrorist organisation.

In a recent television interview, a tape of which was studied by the DIGOS, the imam said Rome would come under terrorist attack if Italian troops failed to leave Iraq within six months.

Italian newspapers also reported that Mamour had expected an attack on the 3,000-strong Italian troops in Iraq before the bombing of the Italian base in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. 

The Italian mission includes ground troops, members of the air force and police along with three naval ships and 40 Red Cross volunteers.

'Reckless, Illogical'

The Secretary General of the European Islamic Conference (EIC), Dr. Adli Abu Hajar, criticized Mamour's statements as "reckless and illogical".

Speaking to IslamOnline.net from Stockholm, Sweden, Abu Hajar said that "a wise and an astute imam should not have said that."

"A Muslim is expected to be a smart person who watch his words in every occasion, especially under the current circumstances worldwide," Abu Hajar told IOL over the phone.

He said inappropriate statements would only be used by "opportunists who in turn will make such a fuss through media".

"Some imams (in the West) are somehow sentimental and do not know how to speak to the press; many are the times that their words are taken out of context and exploited by opportunists," he said.

"How on earth an imam like Mamour supports the killing of Italians in Iraq, who are his own people, and asks for more attacks (until they leave Iraq)," he added.

The Muslim activist added that imams should not use "an outdated rhetoric" and hatred-inciting statements, which are punished by law.

Muslims living abroad should be responsible enough to feel that they are an integral part of their society, he added.

"If we made nothing wrong, the law would definitely be on our side," he said.

"The other day, Swedish journalists phoned me to ask me whether or nor I approved a Muslim action to establish a separate court in Sweden that would look into Muslim matters in the country… My answer was a definite No," he said.

"I told them that we Muslims should abide by the same laws that govern the country… If I bluntly approved of this action, the next day the press would run a broad headline reading 'Muslims in Sweden want to establish a country inside a country'," he added.

He further said that Italy's ruling coalition party respects and well-treats the Muslim community in the south-central European country, adding that respecting hijab, for an instance, was a case in point.

He elaborated that Italy, a catholic country, does respect freedom of religion, noting that Muslim women wearing hijab had no problems in integrating into the Italian society on the contrary to secular France.

The EIC gathers representatives of Muslims living in 33 European countries. It is in charge of coordinating between various Islamic institutions in Europe and establishing dialogue with the European Union on issues related to the Muslim community in Europe.

On September 27, the Italian interior minister threatened that Italy would not permit Italian mosques "to transform into centers of secret financing and recruitment of Islamist fighters."

Italy's move is the latest in a series targeting imams in European countries.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy threatened last September to expel "radical imams" and to close mosques preaching "Islamic fundamentalism."