ROME, Jan. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Italian police on Thursday in Southern city Catanzaro smashed an immigrant smuggling ring which helped the international Islamist terrorist network al-Qaeda.

    Police said they had solid evidence that some of the 14 Muslimsthey arrested in Italy,Egypt and Libya used the ring to get funds and recruits for Osama bin Laden's group, held responsible for theSeptember 11, 2001 suicide hijack attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

    The immigration gang has been responsible for smuggling thousands of immigrants to Italy from North Africa, police said.

    They made more than 30 landings on the island of Lampedusa south of Sicily last year alone.

    A total of 29 arrest warrants were issued for suspects believedto be living in the Italian regions of Calabria, Lombardy and Lazio as well as in Egypt and Libya.

    There was no confirmation that the other 15 had been caught.

    Aside from bringing the immigrants to Italy, the organisation is also believed to have helped them escape from processing centres in order to join family members in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. Enditem