Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Security Tightens Around Embassy in Rome After Tunnel Found

Aired February 25, 2002 - 09:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, eight Moroccan nationals arrested last week in Rome under suspicion they were planning a terrorist attack against the U.S., they have now been formally charged. The men were in possession of a cyanide-based chemical and maps of utility tunnels leading to the U.S. embassy there. And just yesterday, authorities discovered a hole dug into an underground passageway near the embassy, where investigators believe the men wanted to plant a chemical bomb.

CNN Rome Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci joins us now with more on this investigation.

Good morning, Alessio.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning to you, Paula. Well, Italian and U.S. investigators are still working under the assumption that there may have been a terrorist attack against the U.S. embassy here in Rome. Only the Italian media have been speculating all along that the terrorist attack may have been days, if not hours, away. The Italian investigators here remain tight-lipped, they are only telling us -- sources close to the investigation are telling us that the hole that was found yesterday near the U.S. embassy, in the underground passageway was large enough for a small person to squeeze through it, and we also know, according to sources close to the investigation, that both Italian and U.S. investigators are surveying the area this morning here in Rome, but they have not issued any statement in conjunction with that survey, so we don't really know what they have found. As you said, the Italian magistrate have charged eight men, eight Moroccan nationals in connection with a -- during the raid, they found material that was believed to be linked to the possibility that those men had planned a terrorist attack. However, the Italian investigators, so far, have failed to produce any evidence, or at least to say, that there is connection between the hole that was found near the embassy, and those eight Moroccan nationals. They have been charged with subversive association, it is not a terrorism-related charges -- charge, according to the new September 11th anti-terrorism laws that were introduced here in Italy, but also throughout Europe. It is, however, a charge which implies that the person charged may have the intent to commit a terrorist act. The lawyers -- defense lawyers for those eight people charged are denying that their clients are terrorists, and they are also denying that they knew anything about the substance that was found in their apartment, that cyanide compound. They are saying that a lot of people were living in the apartment, and they don't know anything about why this substance was found in that apartment -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, one would imagine the security certainly has been tightened as a result of these arrests. How obvious is it?

VINCI: It is very obvious, Paula. The U.S. embassy here, in downtown Rome, is perhaps one of the most heavily-guarded building in the entire city. It is in a busy street. The beautiful via Vittorio Veneto, for those people who have been in Rome, they certainly know how busy that street is. There is a lot of cars, a lot of people passing through, and you can see a lot of police milling around that embassy. Ever since September 11th, the security has been increased. Now, it's even more tight, Paula, it's really visible.

ZAHN: All right, Alessio Vinci, thank you very much for that report.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com