Italian police have arrested three Algerians suspected of being Islamic extremists with links to international terrorism.

Police said the three men, identified as Yamine Bouhrama, Khaled Serai and Mohamed Larbi, were believed to be "potentially operative" and ready to carry out a strike.

No weapons or explosives were found in police searches and Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu sought to play down the arrests which received wide coverage in the Italian media.

"Too much fuss is being made," Mr Pisanu told reporters in Rome. "Their arrest neither increases or diminishes the terrorist risk which weighs down on Italy and other European countries."

Italy, a close US ally which has deployed soldiers in Iraq, has received numerous internet threats purporting to be from Islamic militants who have vowed to strike Italian interests.

But a government source, who spoke on the condition he not be named, said that any eventual attack by the three Algerians would not have been on Italian soil.

He did not identify other potential targets.

Police believed the three had been in contact with a cell from Algeria's Salafist movement, which is thought to have links to al Qaeda, judicial sources said.

The Algerians were arrested on Tuesday night in the southern city of Naples and the northern city of Brescia, they said.

Although no weapons or explosives were found, the sources said wiretap recordings taken before the arrest showed the Algerians speaking about attacks "against infidels" and the availability of explosives.

Mr Bouhrama, who had been watched for more than two years by authorities, was accused of being the main link to international militant cells.