Italian police have arrested the imam of a mosque in northern Italy after Moroccan authorities requested his extradition on terrorism charges.
Special agents picked up Abdelmajid Zergout, the imam of the Varese mosque, over the weekend at his home in the Lombardy town of Malnate.
They also seized a laptop computer and material in Arabic from the house.
Milan magistrates have 40 days to decide whether to comply with the extradition request issued by the Rabat appeals court on July 31.
The 43-year-old Moroccan national is wanted in his home country on a variety of charges including criminal association and financing terrorist attacks.
Zergout's lawyer, Luca Bauccio, said he would fight the extradition request and described his client's arrest as ''the umpteenth demonstration of how it's possible to fabricate accusations for political reasons''.
Zergout, who is married with children, was arrested by Italian police three years ago on international terrorism charges but was acquitted by a Milan court last year.
