Three extremists suspected of planning a terrorist attack have been arrested by Italian police, ANSA news agency reported Thursday.

The three men, all Algerians, were arrested overnight Tuesday in the southern city of Naples and in the northern city of Brescia, ANSA quoted anti-terrorism police as saying.

Police deemed the suspects as "potentially operational," the ANSA report said.

ANSA quoted sources as saying the men had links to a cell from Algeria's Salafist movement, a group thought to have contacts with al Qaida.

Italy, US's ally with troops in Iraq, has often been a target of terrorist threats via the Internet.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has warned his fellow compatriots they were in the "firing line" of terrorism because of support for the US-led war in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua