Iphone seized from alleged terrorists suspected of planning attacks on London cannot be opened, Italian police say

Key information about an alleged Islamist terrorist plot to strike targets in London could be contained in an iPhone seized from suspects arrested in Italy, but police are unable to access the device.


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Two Afghans were arrested in Bari, in the southern region of Puglia, and a Pakistani detained in Milan on Tuesday on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks in the UK and and Italy and of aiding illegal immigration into Europe. 
Hakim Nasiri, 23, from Afghanistan, was arrested in a home for asylum seekers and was held on suspicion of terrorist activities.  Gulistan Ahmadzai, 29, a second Afghan, and Zulfiqar Amjad, 24, a Pakistani, were detained on suspicion of people trafficking.  
Two other members of the alleged cell are still on the run. Italian investigators were able to access Samsung Galaxy mobile phones owned by two of the suspects. 
They found photos of hotels, bridges and shopping centres in London’s Docklands, along with jihadist propaganda and images of Taliban fighters, terrorist training camps and wounded US soldiers, apparently from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But they have been unable to access an iPhone 6 belonging to one of the members of the suspected cell. In an arrest warrant, the police said they had been unable to unblock the iPhone because it was “protected by a password and is therefore inviolable.”
The situation has parallels with the FBI’s investigation of an iPhone owned by the two terrorists who carried out an attack in San Bernardino in California in December.
“We have encountered the same difficulty as the FBI, in that we have seized an iPhone which we are not able to access,” said Roberto Rossi, one of the prosecutors in the investigation.
“This is a real problem that should be addressed because the balance between protection of privacy and the protection of people (from terrorist attacks) is a serious issue that needs to be discussed at an international level.”
In the worst terrorist attack in the US since 9/11, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people and wounded many others when they attacked a community centre in San Bernadino.
The iPhone 5C belonged to Farook and was found in his car, after a shootout with police that left him and his wife dead.
Apple refused to bypass the smart phone’s encryption features, arguing that it could set a dangerous precedent of violating security and privacy for all iPhone users.
But the Justice Department was able to unlock the iPhone in March this year with the help of an unnamed “third party”, prompting a vigorous debate over digital privacy. 
The identity of the hacking group, or individual, has never been disclosed but Italian police may now seek similar assistance. The three arrested suspects are due to appear in court in Bari, on Italy’s southern Adriatic coast, on Thursday.