Tougher border security at Spain’s two north African enclaves has increased illegal immigration into Italy, the interior minister said.

A suspect in the July 21 bombing attempts in London was answering interrogators’ questions today, Italy’s interior minister said, as police fanned out across the country to check the man’s contacts.

FOUR suspected would-be suicide bombers have been rounded up by police hunting those responsible for the failed July 21 attacks in a dramatic day in London yesterday.

A SOMALI-born Briton believed to be one of the four suspects in the July 21 bombing attempts in London was arrested in Rome yesterday.

Four suspected would-be suicide bombers have been rounded up by police hunting those responsible for the failed July 21 attacks in London.

The fourth would-be London bomber has been arrested in Rome, according to Italian interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu.

The Italian government was today expected to approve a package of anti-terrorism measures drawn up following the July 7 bombings in London.

Italy’s interior minister today proposed a package of sweeping anti-terrorism measures to parliament that would allow police to detain suspects longer without charge.

Italy’s interior minister was to brief parliament today on extra anti-terrorism measures proposed following the deadly bombings in London last week.

Italy boosted anti-terrorist measures and officials were meeting to assess security for a second day today following the string of deadly bombings in London.

Italy’s top domestic security official said today that terrorists were likely to head to Europe once violence in Iraq was over, and that Italy was getting ready to deal with the threat.

The world’s Catholics are looking to the College of Cardinals to begin the difficult task of choosing a worthy successor to Pope John Paul II today, as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who filled Rome to bursting for the pontiff’s funeral began their journey home.

Seeking stronger European co-ordination in the fight against terrorism and illegal immigration, interior ministers from Italy, France, Germany, Britain and Spain were wrapping up informal talks today at a Florentine villa.

ITALY will not be intimidated by threats from Muslim militants but cannot dismiss the possibility of an eventual attack, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said yesterday, after a group claiming al-Qaida links vowed to strike.

More than 70 illegal immigrants found near death in the Mediterranean were rescued yesterday, but several from the group may have died trying to reach Italy, police said.

The arrest of three officials of a German aid ship that disembarked 37 Africans on the Sicilian coast provoked an outcry in Italy and Germany today, with politicians and aid groups saying the move violated humanitarian principles.

ITALIAN anti-terrorist police yesterday captured one of the masterminds of the March 11 Madrid bombings as part of an investigation involving police in at least two other European countries.

Italy’s Interior Minister warned today of looming “grave threats” in demonstrations during the visit to Rome of President George Bush next week.

Scores of police combed Naples today for gunmen who fatally shot a girl in the head during a mob turf war as Neapolitans angrily denounced the grip held on their city by the Camorra crime syndicate.

A 14-year-old girl is said to be brain dead after being caught in a Mafia shoot-out in Naples.

Despite a contract deal, Italian transport workers kept up a series of strikes today, bringing buses, trams and trains to a stop in several major cities.

Italian authorities have arrested three Moroccan men for allegedly supporting terrorist cells linked to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network, Italian state radio reported today.

A parcel bomb exploded at an Italian Labour ministry building in Rome today, causing no injuries, while similar packages rigged to blow up were found in another Rome office and in a Sardinia police station.

AT LEAST 14 people died yesterday when a boat loaded with illegal immigrants from Liberia for capsized off the southern coast of Sicily, coastguard officials said.