Italian police found circled photo of British admiral at arrest

ROME -- Authorities found a newspaper photo of Britain's military chief when they arrested 28 Pakistanis in Naples this week with powerful explosives, forged documents and maps of the area with "sensitive targets" highlighted, a police official said Saturday.

The official would not say whether Adm. Sir Michael Boyce -- who was expected to visit Naples in mid-March -- was being targeted.

The Naples newspaper Il Mattino said the photo was found in a Pakistani-language newspaper, but gave no other details.

A British Embassy spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity that Boyce was about to retire and was to make a series of calls to military bases. In London, the Ministry of Defense and Scotland Yard declined to comment.

In a statement Friday, Italian police said they had uncovered an al-Qaida terrorist cell -- but later a police official said officers "might have gotten ahead of themselves."

In this case, police picked up 28 Pakistanis aged 20-48 during a routine search for illegal immigrants on Thursday. During the raid of an apartment in the city center, they uncovered abut 2 pounds of dynamite, 165 feet of explosive fuse and various types of detonators, the police statement said Friday.

Another police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the combination of the materials "could have imploded a 10-story building." Police said the dynamite plus the chemicals used in the explosive fuse produced the equivalent of 3.3 pounds of T4, a powerful explosive even in small amounts.

The official said police also uncovered maps of Naples with "sensitive" targets circled, but refused to elaborate. Italian news reports citing unidentified sources said the areas marked included the U.S. Consulate in Naples and NATO bases in nearby Bagnoli and Capodichino.

Police also found hundreds of forged identity documents, cell phones, thousands of international telephone contacts and addresses, and manuals on forging identity documents. In addition, religious texts in Pakistan's Urdu language and other documents were found, as well as photos of "martyrs of the Jihad (holy war)," the police statement said.

The Pakistanis have been charged with several terrorism-related crimes. Interrogations were to begin today.

Italian judicial officials were not available for comment Saturday, and the suspects' lawyers could not be reached.

Italian authorities have arrested several dozen people suspected of links with international terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks. Most attention has focused on suspected cells linked to al-Qaida in northern Italy, particularly Milan and Bologna.

Last year, seven Tunisians were convicted in Milan of helping suspected al-Qaida recruits obtain false documents. Among them was Essid Sami Ben Khemais, whom Italian authorities believe was sent to Italy to oversee Osama bin Laden's operations in Europe.