Rome, Apr 08: More than 13,000 potential terrorist targets are currently being kept under surveillance in Italy by a total of some 16,000 security personnel, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu has said. He told Parliament a list of sensitive "objectives" subject to special surveillance now numbered 13,421, being guarded by 12,000 police and 4,000 military personnel.

The previous figure given for such a surveillance list was 8,000.

Pisanu said preventive measures varied and included surveillance of possible targets, tightened checks on access to national territory, intelligence-gathering and the freezing of assets. The minister also sent a circular to local government authorities recommending tighter surveillance at churches and other public places where large numbers might gather.

"International terrorism constitutes a many-sided threat, not easily foreseeable and capable of breaking out whether under external impulses or following an autonomous decision by sleeper groups or cells present on the national territory," Pisanu said.

The Italian government is expected to step up security before Easter celebrations bring tens of thousands of Christians to Rome this week, amid reports of a terrorist threat by the al-Qaeda movement. Bureau Report