TIRANA, April 23 – Albanian police announced on Tuesday that it arrested, in cooperation with Italian authorities, the 28-year-old Bledar Ibrahimi, internationally sought for terrorism.
Ibrahimi, coming from Elbasan, was issued an arrest warrant by the Italian Prosecution for the offense “participation in a terrorist organization.”
The Albanian youth had travelled to Italy eight years ago. There, he had come to contact with ISIS supporters operating in the Lombardy area, who also recruited warriors to take part in the wars in Syria and Iraq.
It was reported he then went on to study “Islamic Studies” and to learn Arabic in Egypt. The Italian police had found in his apartment a lot of material that linked him to extremists and terrorist elements, traces of fundamentalist contacts, and videos and pictures praising the Jihad.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini also reacted to his arrest.
“Thank you to our magistrates and investigators, especially the Special Operations Group (ROS) that never gave up. Thank you to the authorities of Tirana. There is no peace for criminals and fanatics who bring war home,” the Salvini said.
According to Albanian police, Ibrahimi will soon be extradited to Albania.
