ROME — Italian police arrested six people Thursday in raids on a group of suspected radical leftists who were allegedly planning a terror attack, authorities said.
The Interior Ministry said the group was preparing an attack in La Maddalena, an island off Sardinia that had originally been selected to host the Group of Eight summit next month.
The summit has been moved to L'Aquila in central Italy to draw attention to the region and boost its economy after it was struck by a devastating earthquake in April.
Police officials said the plans for the terror attack had been in their infancy, with the suspects studying how they could get around security in La Maddalena.
Five people were taken to jail and one was placed under house arrest in the anti-terror operation that included raids in Rome, Milan and Genoa.
One of the suspects had been close to the Red Brigades, the leftist group that plagued Italy with attacks in the 1970s and 1980s, and was allegedly working to recreate the militant organization.
"The operation is of exceptional importance because it stopped the reorganization of armed violence in Italy," Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said.
Italian police foil leftist terrorist attack on upcoming Group of Eight meeting
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