Turkey Probes al-Qaida Link to Synagogue Bombings
By SUZAN FRASER
ISTANBUL, Turkey (Nov. 17) -- Turkish officials investigated claims that the
al-Qaida terrorist network was responsible for the truck bombings that
devastated two Istanbul synagogues and killed 23 people, the prime minister
said early Monday.
A Turkish newspaper said the driver of one of the trucks was filmed by the
security camera outside the Neve Shalom synagogues. But it quoted police
officials as saying the driver's identity was still unclear. Hurriyet said the
son of the truck's owner has been missing for two weeks.
On Sunday, two Arabic-language newspapers received separate statements claiming
Osama bin Laden's group was responsible for the bombings, which Turkish
officials said were likely the work of suicide bombers who detonated explosives
in pickup trucks.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish authorities were investigating
the al-Qaida claims, and there was no way to independently confirm the
authenticity of the claims.
Talk About It
· Chat | Post a Message
''Our security teams, our intelligence services have to work to determine the
extent of truth of the claims,'' Erdogan said.
Earlier, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said the attacks were likely carried
out by someone with international links, and rejected earlier claims of
responsibility by a tiny Turkish Islamic militant group, saying it did not have
the capacity to launch the sophisticated attacks.
''It is very likely that there is an international connection. We are not
ruling out any possibility, including al-Qaida involvement,'' he said. Aksu
told AP the bombings appeared to be suicide attacks.
A Turkish intelligence official told The Associated Press that security forces
had been expecting a suicide strike but said it was very difficult to prevent
such an action. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity Monday, said
one person was still being questioned in Istanbul over the synagogue blasts but
that the person didn't appear to have ties with al-Qaida.
Turkish newspaper reports Monday said that four Turks who were questioned and
released on Sunday included some who allegedly provided fake passports to three
al-Qaida suspects captured in Turkey last year as they illegally entered from
Iran.
Istanbul's governor, Muammer Guler, said Monday that more people had been
detained in the attacks, according to private Turk NTV, but did not say when.
The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades claimed Saturday's attacks in an e-mail to the
London-based paper al-Quds al Arabi, saying it had learned that Israeli
intelligence agents were inside the synagogues.
It's not clear that the group exists, though it has been linked in the past to
al-Qaida. A copy of its statement was obtained by The Associated Press.
The London-based weekly Al-Majalla also received an e-mailed responsibility
claim that said al-Qaida carried out the Istanbul attacks, as well as the Nov.
12 car bomb attack outside the Italian police headquarters in Nasariyah, Iraq
that killed 19 Italians and 14 other people.
The explosions, set off two minutes apart, devastated Neve Shalom, Istanbul's
largest synagogue and symbolic center to the city's 25,000-member Jewish
community, and the Beth Israel synagogue about three miles away.
At least six Jews at Beth Israel were among those killed in the blasts, which
also wounded 303 people, including Jews and Muslims passers-by.
Sixty-six of the wounded remained hospitalized, with 10 in intensive care
units, NTV said Monday.
Some analysts believe Saturday's attacks were meant to warn to Turkey's
Islamic-rooted government against keeping close relations with Israel and the
West. Turkey, a predominantly Muslim nation which has long had a secular
regime, is an ally of Israel and the United States and is NATO's only Muslim
member.
''Turkey is on the al-Qaida's hit list,'' said Sami Kohen, a commentator with
Milliyet newspaper. ''In their eyes, Turkey is a country that has close ties to
the West. It also is in close cooperation with Israel.''
Turkey's parliament agreed last month to let the government send troops to Iraq
to relieve U.S. forces there, but retracted the offer in the face of strong
Iraqi opposition.
Israeli intelligence and explosives experts worked with Turkish teams to
investigate the bombings.
One of the e-mailed statements warned of further attacks and demanded that the
United States release Arab prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It also
warned President Bush that attacks would be directed at the United States
itself.
''There is more to come. By God the Jews of the world will regret that their
(men) thought of invading the lands of Muslims,'' the statement said.
11-17-03 0718EST
.
|
