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| Europe |
| Al-Qaeda may hit Turkey in November |
| 2005-07-29 |
| Turkey could come under attack again from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network in the next few months, a senior police official said in an interview published on Friday. A local cell of al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a string of devastating bomb attacks on Jewish and British targets in Istanbul in November 2003 when more than 60 people were killed. Groups linked to the militants have also claimed responsibility for bombings this month in London and in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. "It seems the wave of terror is spreading from west to east after the bombings in London and Egypt. I expect an attack in Turkey by November," Sammaz Demirtas, deputy chief of the Istanbul police, told the Vatan newspaper. Demirtas, who heads his force's intelligence operations, said the police were closely monitoring 1,000 people believed to have links with al Qaeda in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city. "We follow their trips, changes of addresses or work, who they meet, their every move. Following them is important so we can take immediate action when they connect with their organisation," he said. In Turkey, 80 percent of intelligence work conducted by the police involves religious-based organisations, Demirtas said. Muslim Turkey has a strictly secular political system, and has long tried to keep tight control of religious organisations. Demirtas said he did not believe al Qaeda would target ordinary citizens, for example by attacking buses or the metro system, noting that previous attacks by the group in Turkey had focused on specific targets. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 I know I'll be hitting turkey in November...right around the end. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-07-29 11:50 |
| #1 Al-Qaeda May Hit Insert Infidel Country of Choice Here in Insert Month of Choice Here. |
| Posted by: Zpaz 2005-07-29 11:49 |