Fear of Terrorism in Italy

Five times a day the Muezzin summons devout Muslims to prayer and Mohamed Pietro Danova stops work. Mohamed, who was born in Morocco, has lived in Milan for 15 years. He is an active member of the local Islamic community.

Few people come to prayers on weekdays as it is hard to get time off work.

Their chilly assembly room is in a former warehouse. They don't have a proper mosque, therefore the five Islamic communities in Milan have to improvise.

"There are 60 thousand Muslims living in the city. As well as our children, who we want to be associated with our beliefs. But we don't have the means to keep up our religion and traditions as we'd like. Unfortunately we don't receive any financial help from the Italian state or the city of Milan," Businessman Mohamed Pietro Danova says.

Immigrants from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria are clearly visible on the streets of the North Italian city. They have their own telephone bureaux, travel agencies and butchers.

It has taken a lot of Italians a long time to get used to this, but slowly they are beginning to realise that Italy has long become home to an immigrant population.

The CIA suspects that Osama Bin Laden received support from Milan and now many Italians suspect the city's Islamic community has been harbouring terrorists. The Muslims refuse to accept this generalised accusation.

Recent arrests prove that the authorities are taking action. These men are accused of being members of a Pan-European terrorist network. They are said to have followed orders by Osama Bin Laden to recruit volunteers in Milan for the Taleban training camps in Afghanistan and provide them with forged documents. No sentences have been passed to date, but investigations are still in progress.

Fears that Islamic community centres will be closed

The ultra conservative Lega Nord party, member of the Italian coalition government and strongest party in some northern Italian cities says that this is sufficient evidence to close Islamic community centres.

"These centres should be closed. We want to live in peace with immigrants that are decent , law abiding workers. But we refuse to tolerate anyone connected with terrorist activities or who collects money for Bin Laden," Lega Nord Party member Mario Borghezio says.

Mohamed hopes the majority of Italians won't start to think the same way. He is confident that immigrant workers who abide by the law have nothing to fear.

Italian espresso and Moroccan cookies: the Danovas have come to look on Milan as home. They share the same desire for peace and fear of terrorism as their Italian neighbours.