Intrigue Italian-Style

The scent of fragrant North African oils sweetens an otherwise drab, poorly lit room of wood-paneled walls and carpeted floors. As arrivals at Italy?s Islamic Cultural Institute perform traditional pre-prayer handwashings, three young men lounge on a nearby stretch of carpet, leaning in toward each other to speak in hushed voices.

Abdel Hamid Shaari, president of the institute and meeting place, motions with his head toward the trio — one with a long dark beard, the other two without — huddled in conversation. "Look at those three," said Shaari, an affable Libyan-born architect. "They might be talking about their families or last night?s soccer match or bin Laden. How should I know their discussion?"

Shaari has been forced to fend off such questions since the U.S. Treasury Department dubbed the Islamic center in north Milan the main station house in Europe for Osama bin Laden?s al-Qaeda network in early October. American officials say weapons, information, money and men have moved through a network of fundamentalists operating in and around the two-story, 400-sq-m center that blends into an industrial neighborhood of abandoned warehouses, low-rise offices and a Fiat repair shop.

The institute is mentioned repeatedly in police reports leading to the arrests in October of three alleged al-Qaeda operatives in Italy and Germany, suspected of concocting plots to strike French and Italian targets. One of the suspects, a 26-year-old Tunisian named Aouadi Ben Belgacem, was arrested as he walked out of the mosque?s garage exit after an early evening prayer session. The Milan center is also the reported Italian base for Mahmud Abu al-Fatuh Muhammad, whose Al-Shifa Honey Press honey business had its assets frozen this month by the Treasury Department for suspected terrorist links.

When asked about U.S. accusations against the Milan center, Italian prosecutor Stefano Dambruoso refused to comment. But an Italian judge familiar with the case questioned the U.S. Treasury report, saying the Americans "either know something we don?t know, and it would be nice if they told us — or else, they?ve reached a hasty conclusion."

The center, which opened in 1989, has been under surveillance since its days in the 1990s as a base for both humanitarian and military aid to Muslims in Bosnia. In June 1995, police raided the premises and arrested dozens of men on allegations of terrorism. One of Shaari?s predecessors, Anwar Shaban, who was under investigation in Italy for possible terrorist links, was later killed under mysterious circumstances in Croatia after going to help the Bosnian cause. The Milan institute?s name pops up again in the trial of suspects in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa.

Shaari, who smiles easily and wears his reading glasses hanging down around his neck, denies that the center is in any way involved in supporting or planning terrorism. He says he cannot be held responsible for the actions of all of the more than 4,000 faithful who come through the doors each week to pray, study, eat and watch Arabic videotapes.

"We are an open book," says Shaari. "We haven?t heard from the Americans. But if the Treasury or the CIA or FBI want to come, they just have to call 15 minutes beforehand and take off their shoes when they get here."