Authorities announced the arrest of four Tunisians on April 30 from an Islamist terror cell in Puglia; the cell leader, Ben Hassen Hosni Hachemi, was arrested in Belgium. Two other cell members, a Tunisian and a Moroccan, are thought to have fled to Tunisia. The group recruited jihadists, trained on Mt. Etna, and planned to send operatives abroad as well as attack targets in Italy. The Foreign Minister said on May 9 there is “no sign” of an Italian journalist who vanished a month ago in Syria while reporting from Homs.
