Turkey Holds 2 Syrians Suspected of Al-Qaeda Ties....

[merlin]

Turkish police today detained more than 10 people suspected of preparing to attack Israeli tourists, including one who they believe manufactured the bombs for the 2003 attacks on the British Consulate and British-owned HSBC bank in Istanbul, private NTV television said.

Police officials in Istanbul and Antalya, where the arrests were reported to have taken place, could not immediately confirm the report.


Merv!

 

[merlin]

Update....

Two Syrian nationals suspected of having links with al-Qaeda have been arrested in Turkey.

Luai Sakra, 32, is suspected of involvement in the November 2003 bombings of UK and Jewish targets in Istanbul which killed 63 people.

He was arrested in Diyarbakir, south-east Turkey, and is due to appear in court in Istanbul today.

A suspected associate of his, Hamed Obysi, 21, was detained in the southern Mediterranean province of Antalya.

Local media reports say both men were detained after forged passports were discovered in a flat in the provincial capital, Antalya.

A total of 71 men are being tried in connection with the two 2003 attacks on two synagogues, the British consulate and a British-owned bank.


Merv!

 

[CrescentHomes]

There are no other al-Qaeda terror teams in Turkey, according to Security Department Deputy Director and Directorate Spokesperson Ramazan Er.

The latest al-Qaeda operation was a success of Turkish Intelligence alone. Al-Qaeda militants had planned to pass to a European country after the attack and were planning on this country to be Greece.

Er answered questions of the press about the al-Qaeda operation during the weekly news briefing. He explained that the operation to arrest of Syrian al-Qaeda militants, who had prepared a bomb attack on Israeli cruise liners bringing Israeli tourists to Turkey.

"This operation is a success of Turkish intelligence services alone. No other country has contributed to this."

He also said, "There are no other al-Qaeda teams in Turkey. Our country is safe. Trust our security forces."

Er said an early statement by Reuters that "12 al-Qaeda members have been detained in Turkey" was completely wrong. There is irrelevant and missing information in this news, he said, but he did not deny the news.

Er noted that he did not say that there are no operations against al-Qaeda. Security officers have found a small amount of C-4 explosives and various chemicals with the militants, he added.