MILAN (Italy), Nov 6: The Italian government said on Tuesday it had “decapitated” a pan-European network recruiting suicide bombers, with raids targeting 20 suspects in Italy, France and Portugal.

The “very important operation has decapitated a jihadist network that operates across Europe ... with the aim of preparing men to send to the Iraqi and Afghan theatres,” Interior Minister Giuliano Amato told a news conference in Rome.

The group primarily consisted of Tunisians, Amato said, adding that the operation was carried out in cooperation with security forces of several other countries.

“Looking at the places involved, it is clear that there’s a terrorist network that knows no boundaries and that operates clandestinely in many countries,” Amato said.

Eleven people were arrested in Italy, including 10 in various parts of northern Italy and one in southern Calabria, the ANSA news agency said, adding that three apartments served as logistical bases, two in the Milan area and one in Reggio Emilia, also in the north.

Nine other suspects are sought in France, Portugal and Britain under European arrest warrants issued by a Milan court.

A Tunisian suspect was arrested in a Paris suburb, French officials said, while another suspect was picked up in Portugal, the Portuguese news agency LUSA reported.

The raids in Italy uncovered remote electronic detonators and poisons, as well as instructions on guerrilla warfare techniques, ANSA said.

Investigators also found evidence of psychological training, according to Milan anti-terrorist prosecutor Nicola Piacente.

“During a telephone call there was a conversation in which a person pretended to be in a car full of explosives,” Piacente said.

He said there was evidence that moderate Muslim countries were targets as well as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Officers were searching for foreign nationals suspected of having formed “jihadist” cells, ANSA said, adding that the investigation had begun in 2004.

The suspects are also accused of falsifying identity documents allowing them to travel clandestinely from one European country to another.

The investigation stemmed from the break-up in 2002 of a radical Islamist cell based in Italy with connections in France.

A bi-annual report in August warned that Italy faces “heightened risks” of attack and an influx of Muslim radicals, and cited 60 threats in the first half of 2007.

Italy saw a “rise in Islamic meeting places which, even if they are primarily organised and frequented by law-abiding people, remain potentially exposed to infiltration by radicals,” the report said.

It highlighted “networks of north African origin” while stating that “interactions or contacts with other radical milieux” from the Balkans, the Middle East or central Asia were also possible.

An Iraqi said to be close to Al-Qaeda was arrested at Venice airport in September on suspicion of belonging to a group blamed for several kidnappings and attacks in Iraq.Hussein Saber Fadhil was allegedly planning to go to Iraq to carry out attacks using aircraft to be purchased from an Italian firm.—AFP