IN THE NEWS: Police in Perugia holding a press conference after they arrested three men for allegedly running a 'school of terrorism'. -- PHOTO: AFP

Moroccan-born Korchi El Mustapha's arrest along with two aides at the weekend sent shockwaves across Italy. Police told Reuters on Monday that they were investigating a second imam of the small Ponte Felcino mosque near the central Italian city of Perugia.

Police say El Mustapha, 41, ran a sort of start-up terrorism training school for children and adults which relied on materials downloaded off the Internet. This included how to detonate bombs remotely using cellphones.

He also collected an assortment of chemicals at his home which they say could have been used to make explosives, although officials add they have not found any clear evidence of a planned attack after a two-year investigation.

Based on tougher anti-terrorism legislation passed in 2005 after deadly bombings in Spain and Britain, police say they do not have to prove an attack was in the works - training others to commit an attack is enough for a conviction.

'It's the first time that this law that was approved in 2005 will be applied in Italy,' said Perugia police chief Arturo De Felice.

The legislation bypasses links between potential terrorists and international groups which are often difficult to prove. In the case of El Mustapha, police say there are no clear ties to Al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups.

'We're not going to go to the judge and say here is a man who was a member of an international terrorist network,' said a senior police source, who asked not to be named.

'This was a very radical imam who preached hatred.'

Police said the suspects had contacts with members of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group, which is believed to have ties to Al-Qaeda and has been linked to the 2004 train bombings in Madrid and the 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca, Morocco.

Separately on Monday, Al-Qaeda threatened in an Internet statement to escalate attacks against the 'enemies of Allah' in North African countries.

'The mujahideen (holy warriors)...have many hidden surprises for the enemies of Allah in the countries of the Islamic Maghreb, which will come in an escalating sequence,' said the Al-Qaeda Movement in the Islamic Countries of the Maghreb.

'We call upon all our Muslim brothers to stay away from the centres of the infidels and official apostates, as well as security (gatherings) of army and police,' it added in the statement posted on a website used by Islamic militant groups.

The group - formerly the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat - last week claimed it had killed or wounded 'no fewer than 25' Algerian troops in three coordinated attacks in Algeria's Kabylie region.

Together with bombings in neighbouring Morocco, the attacks have revived Western fears of Islamist militants gaining a foothold in North Africa from where they could launch attacks into Europe and beyond.

Unlike Spain and Britain, Italy has not suffered a terrorism attack by Islamic extremists and prosecutors in Perugia sought to quell speculation that an attack may have been imminent.

A statement said evidence collected did not indicate 'potential, specific criminal actions to damage aqueducts, airports or other places identified'.

But those assurances did little to calm worries that imams preaching extremism could be flying below the police radar.

EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini, a former Italian foreign minister, said he would present a 'map' of Europe's mosques along with a package of anti-terrorism measures.

'By October, there will be a mapping of the European mosques - how many there are, who are the imams and who finances them,' Mr Frattini said in comments widely published in Italian media.

Mustapha's court-appointed lawyer, Ms Diana Iraci Borgia, told Reuters she had met him on Monday but he declined to speak with her.

The imam of Perugia, Mr Abdel Qader, told the Rome daily Il Messaggero that he had met Mustapha and had no reason to suspect him of militancy. He added that he condemned anyone who preached violence and that the 10,000 Muslims living peacefully in the city were 'a concrete example of successful cohabitation'.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NEW YORK TIMES