(Adds identity of bomber, Muslim community leader)
MILAN, Oct 12 (Reuters) - A Libyan man threw a bomb at an Italian army barracks in Milan early on Monday and was injured in the explosion, losing a hand, police said, but there was no immediate explanation of the motive for the attack.
An Italian soldier was slightly hurt in the attack at the Santa Barbara barracks near San Siro soccer stadium. Police said the man, carrying a small bomb in his bag, got into the barrack compound and threw the bomb while shouting in Arabic.
An army corporal on guard duty managed to stop the man getting closer to the building, helping to avoid more damage or casualties, police said.
Police identified the attacker as 35-year-old Mohammed Game and said he was a Libyan immigrant with a proper residence permit who was married to an Italian woman and has lived in Italy since 2003.
Game prayed regularly at Milan's main Jenner Street mosque but did not appear to be an extremist, the mosque's president, Abdel Hamid Shaari, told Ansa news agency.
"He dresses like a westerner, with a very short beard. If we had suspected anything we would have told the police," he said.
The head of parliament's security committee, Francesco Rutelli, said it seemed to be an "isolated incident" but added: "Earlier investigations turned up a conversation that talked about these barracks as a possible target."
Political violence in Italy in recent years has consisted mostly of small-scale incidents linked to remnants of the leftist Red Brigade guerrillas active in the 1970s and '80s.
Intelligence reports and arrests show militant Islamic groups linked to al Qaeda, especially in North Africa, are active in Italy, mostly recruiting and financing for attacks planned elsewhere in Europe.
Italian troops are stationed in Afghanistan and Lebanon, but Italy pulled out of Iraq in 2006. (Reporting by Diana Bin and Massimiliano DiGiorgio; Writing by Stephen Brown; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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