Italy boosted security checks on Sunday after Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi threatened retaliation following the Italian government's decision to take part in NATO-led air strikes against the regime.
"Kadhafi's words confirm that we have to monitor the situation. It's what we are doing and we have intensified monitoring on our territory," Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni told reporters.
Maroni said that Kadhafi's threat on Saturday to "bring the battle to Italy" should not be under-estimated and was not just "propaganda".
Maroni, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League party, also said he was apprehensive about a massive influx of refugees from Libya.
But Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Kadhafi's threats had "nothing credible" about them.
Italy was Libya's colonial ruler from 1911 until World War II.
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