Italy expels 2 Libyan suspected extremists

Italy has expelled two Libyan men suspected of being members of a Salafist group, whose "radical behavior" had alerted anti-terrorist police, the interior ministry said Tuesday. The men, aged 26 and 28, arrived several months ago for medical treatment for wounds sustained in fighting at the time of the fall of Moamer Gadhafi. They were staying in Rome hotels when they were arrested last Thursday and Saturday. Police anti-terrorist unit DIGOS had observed "the radical behavior" of the two men, and their aggressive attitude towards other Libyans. According to Rome investigators cited by ANSA news agency, the two men "had started proselytizing and spreading propaganda for jihad" with the aim of finding "material for attacks against Western interests". Their behavior particularly struck the DIGOS investigators following the protests over the US-made anti-Islam film and the events in Benghazi, where the US ambassador to Libya was killed in a mob attack with heavy weapons. The Daily Star