Italy: Imam deported, deemed threat to national security

Italy expelled a Turin imam to his native Morocco Wednesday after his sermons were secretly filmed and his views were deemed a threat to public security, officials said.

Mohamed Kohaila, who had been living in Italy for years, was deported in the evening, according to the Interior Ministry.

The ministry said that checks from local and national anti-terrorism authorities showed that Kohaila was inciting "violently anti-Western behavior" and maintained relations with extremists close to militant jihadists.

Kohaila was a close aide to another Moroccan-born imam in Turin, Bourki Bouchta, who was deemed an extremist and expelled from Italy in 2005, police in the northern Italian city said.

Kohaila denies inciting anti-Western sentiment, according to the ANSA news agency.

The imam was secretly filmed during his sermons at Turin mosque last year. The footage was broadcast on TV in March by public network RAI.

Following the show, prosecutors in Turin then opened an investigation into whether he was spreading anti-Western propaganda and extremist views close to al-Qaida, police said. However, prosecutors opted not to press charges.

Italy has often resorted to expelling foreigners in recent years if they are considered threats to public security.

Source: IHT (English)

See also: Link Roundup (Italy:Milan imam convicted of terror charges)