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News reports link Al Qaeda to Turkey suicide attackersANKARA -- Two key suspects in last month's suicide bombings in Istanbul met with and took instructions from Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, newspapers reported yesterday, a day after the government made its strongest statement linking the attackers to Al Qaeda.
Main suspects Habib Aktas and Azad Ekinci met with bin Laden's top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, several times, Hurriyet newspaper reported, quoting testimony from another suspect. The two Turks are suspected of planning the Nov. 15 suicide bombings of two synagogues and of the British Consulate and a British bank five days later. "They were the only ones to meet with al-Zawahiri," Hurriyet quoted the man, identified as Yusuf Polat, as telling police. "The instructions came from him. They would meet [with him] at least three times a year, using false identity documents." Milliyet and Zaman newspapers carried similar reports. But police would not comment on the reports, and a US counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no information that al-Zawahiri had connections in Turkey. The US official hadn't heard the Turkish news reports. The news reports about Al Qaeda came a day after Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said "those who were involved in these terrorist attacks as suicide bombers, and those who had relations with them . . . are linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist organization." At least three claims of responsibility for the bombings purportedly came from Al Qaeda. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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