Italian police, acting on a tip from US intelligence...

Italian police, acting on a tip from US intelligence officials, arrested 15 Pakistanis allegedly linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network.
In a televised briefing, police said the arrests were made off the coast of Sicily on a vessel that contained documents and other evidence that linked the men to al Qaida.
The arrests will bring the total number of suspected al Qaida operatives apprehended in Italy since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington to at least 60. There is no official word on how many of the suspects remain in jail, but a police official told United Press International several days before the latest operation there were "at least two dozen" suspected terrorists in jail in Italy.
What is not clear is what happens to the suspects once they are jailed. Authorities cite security concerns when they decline to discuss the matter. But according to local media reports, at least four men who were charged with having al Qaida links last year, all from Tunisia, were found guilty of trafficking arms and false documents by a Milan court in February. They are serving 12-year sentences. In other cases, evidence has been ruled too weak and suspects have been released.
It is also presumed that at least some of the suspects have been extradited to the United States where they could be executed if found guilty of having links to terror groups responsible for the attacks. That issue is a controversial one, since the death penalty has been outlawed in Italy since 1978 and the country has since become a vocal critic of US capital punishment laws.
"What many people would like to know is how often Italian authorities are sending these men off to America where they will be strapped to a chair and executed," Giuseppe Thorndike, a political commentator and columnist for the newspaper La Repubblica, told UPI. Legal experts have told UPI if the suspects were found guilty of crime within Italy, they would serve their punishment on Italian soil. But if the suspects are apprehended in Italy for crimes in the United States, they could legally be extradited for their hearings and punishment. It is too early to tell whether the men in the latest case will be charged for crimes in Italy.