Italian court acquits nine in alleged plot against US Embassy

ROME -- An Italian court yesterday acquitted nine Moroccans accused of plotting to attack the US Embassy in Rome by poisoning its water supply.

Coming just months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the arrests of the men in February 2002 grabbed headlines around the world, and their acquittals represent a serious blow for Italy's antiterrorism prosecutors.

The court also acquitted three more men who were charged with trying to set up a terrorist cell at a Rome mosque, saying there was not enough evidence to convict the men.

The nine Moroccans were arrested in February 2002 after police found almost nine pounds of potassium ferrocyanide in their apartment building, along with falsified documents and a map showing the US Embassy. Scientists said the chemical was a potential precursor of a deadly poison.

Days later, police discovered a hole dug into an underground passageway next to the downtown embassy, raising fears that militants were planning to contaminate water pipes leading into the heavily guarded compound.

''This sentence shows that we do not have a cutting-edge investigative system," Simonetta Crisci, a lawyer for the accused, was quoted as saying by AGI news agency.

''After a two-year trial, the court has confirmed what we had already seen in the eyes of our clients, innocence," she said.

Prosecutors, who had sought prison terms of up to 8 years for the 12 men, said they would appeal the verdict.

After their arrest, the nine Moroccans told investigators they knew nothing about the chemicals or the map, saying many people passed through the apartment.

Their lawyers told reporters yesterday that the cyanide compound was not a dangerous substance, and might, at worst, have been used to help forge identification documents.

The three other defendants, who came from Pakistan, Tunisia, and Algeria, were accused of having ties to Al Qaeda.

The Rome court rejected the charges, but found one of the three guilty of receiving license plates from a stolen scooter and gave him a six-month jail term and a fine of 100 euros, or about $119.

Italian police have cracked down on suspected Muslim militants following the Sept. 11 attacks, and Washington believes a Milan mosque acted as a main European logistics base for Al Qaeda.

The mosque has denied the accusations.