Fugitive terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is plotting attacks on the G-8 summit in Genoa next month, say reports in the US and Germany.
Italian officials say they have been warned by German intelligence services that bin Laden, who is rumoured to be hiding in Afghanistan, is secretly financing neo-Nazi groups in Europe to attack during the summit, according to the New York Post.
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Counter-terrorism sources said the plot was uncovered after dozens of suspected Islamic militants linked to bin Laden's Al-Qaeda group were arrested in Frankfurt and Milan in April.
Italian police are said to be taking the bin Laden threat very seriously.
An attack could come by remote-control model aircraft packed with plastic explosives, said Bild, Germany's largest newspaper.
The planes would fly into the compound where US President Mr George W. Bush and major European heads of state will be meeting at the July 20th summit, said the newspaper.
Experts said bin Laden's organisation is known to have a lot of technical expertise and that an air raid is not necessarily beyond its capabilities.
White House officials and the US secret service, assigned to presidential protection, told the Postthey are aware of reports of possible threats to the president during the Genoa trip but declined further comment.
PA/AP