ROME,
July 26, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe
Pisanu has said that an umbrella Muslim organization will be
established within days to be the representative face of the Muslim
minority in the country and liaise with the government on their
behalf.
The
minister said the council is primarily aimed at “isolating”
extremists from the overwhelmingly moderate Muslim minority and
defeating terrorism, Italy’s La Repubblica daily reported
Monday, July 25.
“The
war against Islamic fundamentalism should take two shapes: armed
battles to rout terrorists and openness to the moderate faces of the
Muslim minority,” he told the paper.
He
admitted, however, that Europe was not doing enough to reach out to
Moderate Muslim leaders and gave undivided attention to its
"security" battle with the terrorists.
Pisanu
further said that Europe should steer clear of oppression and racism,
adding it should combat Islamophobia.
“It
is high time Muslims and Christians became united in the face of their
archenemy (terror),” he said.
There
are an estimated 1.5 million Muslims in Italy, a country of about 58
million people.
Islam
is the least represented of the monotheistic faiths in Rome’s
corridors of power. Unlike Judaism, Buddhism and some Protestant
denominations, Islam is not officially recognized by the state.
Add
to that only some 50,000 Muslims have the right to vote and there are
no national politicians who are known to be Muslims.
Home
Raids
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A library photo of Italian Muslims at a Rome mosque. (Reuters)
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In
a separate development, Muslim minority in Italy started feeling the
fallout from the string of London bombings on July 7, which were
carried out by four British Muslims and killed 52 people, other than
the four bombers.
Plainclothes
officers have raided homes of imams in Italy, scouring every nook and
cranny and downloading numbers from their cellphones looking for clues
related to the London bombings, the International Herald Tribune
reported Monday.
“The
state is punishing its best links to the Muslim community - we never
expected that the Italian state would do something like this,”
Khaldi Samir, an imam of a mosque in Latina, 70 kilometers south of
Rome, told the paper.
Ten
plainclothes officers stayed three hours at his home while his
children were sleeping.
The
police explained the search was “preventive” - the warrant stating
he might have “unknowingly” had contact with people connected to
terrorism.
The
homes of five other leaders of the Italy's Muslims were searched the
same day, Samir added.
“Every
day I stress the need for moderation and integration,” Samir said,
“but these searches bring into question my credibility in our
community. People will say, 'This is your payback for your
moderation.'”
He
added such events served to radicalize young people.
An
official at Italy's Ministry of the Interior said that he did not know
specifics of recent raids, but that he was “not surprised” that
such searches were occurring. “This is an ongoing process,” he
said.
On
Friday, July 22, Italy's Council of Ministers adopted a series of new
anti-terrorism provisions, which are likely to take effect soon.
These
include new registration requirements for Internet cafés and
cellphone users, new limits on pilots licenses, and quick expulsions
for foreigners considered a danger to national security or who assist
in terrorist activities.
They
further make it a specific crime to recruit and train people for
terrorism. They also increase security on Italy's transport system and
allow authorities to collect saliva samples from suspects for DNA
testing.
The
interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu
threatened
in September 2003 to close some mosques under the pretext that they
did not respect laws.
