ROME, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Italy on Wednesday arrested a 23-year-old Moroccan with Italian citizenship for terrorist propaganda and proselytism on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, police said.
The suspect was arrested in the northern city of Turin after a two-year investigation. Police are conducting searches in cities across Italy.
Anti-terrorism investigators "have identified other foreigners and Italians converted to Islam and engaged in a campaign of proselytism on the internet," police tweeted.
The man arrested in Turin "hailed terrorist attacks and shared sermons by 'preachers of hatred'... that spread the IS order to unleash a terrorist campaign in Europe," the police explained on twitter account.
In a televised press conference, Turin Police Superintendent Francesco Messina said the young man, a loner who was rejected by his family, "translated jihadist material into Italian".
Police decided to step in and arrest him once he made the transition from internet propaganda to meeting terrorist recruits in real life, the superintendent explained.
Earlier this month, Italy deported a 35-year-old Moroccan national who praised the 2016 truck attack in Nice, France, in which 86 people were killed.
That was the 27th deportation "for reasons of national security" carried out so far this year. Italy has expelled 264 "individuals involved in religious extremism" since Jan. 1, 2015, according to the Interior Ministry.
