Vatican link in 'al-Qaeda' arrests

[nitpicker]

Source: BBC

Vatican link in 'al-Qaeda' arrests

Breaking news
Vatican may have been target of planned al-Qaeda-linked attack, Italian prosecutors say after widespread arrests

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.


Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32447603

[nitpicker]

1. al Qaeda suspects may have been targeting Vatican

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/24/us-italy-security-vatican-idUSKBN0NF11F20150424

World | Fri Apr 24, 2015 6:57am EDT

al Qaeda suspects may have been targeting Vatican: Italy prosecutor


(Reuters) - Terrorism suspects under investigation in Italy may have been planning an attack against the Vatican, one of the prosecutors leading the probe said on Friday.

Cagliari Chief Prosecutor Mauro Mura told reporters that as well as planning to launch attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan as earlier reported, the suspects may also have been aiming to target the Vatican.

Raids across Italy were targeting 18 people suspected of having links with al Qaeda, police said earlier. Some had been arrested in Italy, including the group's suspected spiritual leader, but others were believed to have left the country.

[nitpicker]

2. More from the BBC

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32447603

Vatican link in 'al-Qaeda' arrests


11 minutes ago

From the section Europe


Breaking news
Police in Italy have arrested 20 people suspected of having links to al-Qaeda, as prosecutors say the Vatican may have been the target of a planned attack.

Investigators say they found a militant ring in Sardinia, with a suicide attacker potentially planning to target the Holy See.

Some of the suspects are believed to have organised the 2009 market bombing in Peshawar in Pakistan, reports say.

Local media said two men had provided protection for Osama Bin Laden.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Holy ----!

Well that explains a great many things. I just traveled there and stayed across the Parliament. There was a lot of police activity, and some signs of protests, though we never found anyone to explain what was going on and google searches were not helpful.

Without any warning streets would be blocked off by the police and people were diverted to walk around the block (which is incredibly easy to do in Rome). No one seemed to mind the detours as they ambled around. Two or three times we were asked to go around the block to get to our hotel. But for the most part, the carabinieri and guardias were far more restrained and cordial than American police. I often snapped photographs of the people in the square in front of Parliament from my window, and the carabinieri would just watch without interference. Now that I think about it, if I tried to do the same thing in the US, I would probably be shot!

They did, however, have a presence of strength and some would carry automatic rifles. When we left through the International wing of the airport, military men and women with semi-automatic rifles were positioned strategically inside the airport.

Weird thing is, that I was treated more respectfully through their TSA equivalent checkpoints than I ever was in the States.

We toured both the Coliseum and the Vatican and there was far more police scrutiny at the Coliseum. That's probably because the Vatican is a self-contained area and the initial checkpoint was enough. The number of people who traverse the halls in the Vatican is just breath-taking. I mean, literally breathtaking because we were so crammed together that a few places were uncomfortably warm from the body heat. I can't imagine how those beautiful works of art are going to fair over time with that kind of exposure.

The only place we were not allowed to photograph was the Sistine Chapel. Some idiot guide allowed her young tour clients to pull out their I-Phones to try to take a picture of the ceiling and they were heavily chastised by Vatican employees.

Seriously though, you would never know that a threat was directed at the Vatican last week.