Milan, Italy  - Italian police on Thursday arrested a former extreme-left wing terrorist in connection with a string of arson and other attacks on Islamic targets in northern Italy, news reports said.

Roberto Sandalo was taken into custody following an arrest warrant issued against him by Milan prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli, the ANSA news agency reported.

The arrest stems from an investigation on attacks against several cultural centres and places of worship used by Muslim in Italy's northern Lombardy region. No one was hurt in the attacks.

Sandalo was first arrested in 1980 as a member of the Prima Linea (Front Line) Marxist group which carried out several politically motivated murders during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

He was sentenced to 11 years in jail on terrorism-related charges, but only served two years after turning police informer.

In September 2007 Sandalo participated in an anti-Islamic fundamentalism demonstration in Milan.