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| Europe | |
| Turkey Says Foreign Terrorists May Be Behind Suicide Blasts | |
| 2003-11-17 | |
| Paging Murat ELF - An obscure terrorist group we big men now linked to Al Qaeda took responsibility on Sunday for the twin truck bombings at two synagogues that killed 23 people and wounded more than 300 here on Saturday. Turkish officials said they had evidence that suicide drivers had carried out the blasts. The claim of responsibility was conveyed by Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of Al-Quds al-Arabi, a London-based Arabic newspaper, in an interview with the Arabic satellite station Al Jazeera. Mr. Atwan said the terrorist group, known as the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, had made the claim by e-mail. The group has been linked with Al Qaeda in the past. While it was impossible Sunday night to confirm any role by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades in the synagogue attacks, the speedy claim of responsibility by a non-Turkish group supported the contention by Turkish officials that the bombings were the work of foreign terrorists, who’d a thunk it? possibly from Al Qaeda, rather than any homegrown organization.
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| Posted by:Spot |
| #3 "Foreign Terrorists"? Gee, ya think? Truly stunning grasp of the obvious... |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-11-17 5:50:40 PM |
| #2 I am really surprised that this hasn't happened sooner. Turkey beside being part of NATO and (notwithstanding its new passive Islamist government)a stalwart military partner of US, is also Israel's best friend next to us. In Israel, the new terminal at Ben-Gurion was built by a JV of Israeli-Turkish contractors. Since the Paleostinians are restricted from working freely in Israel since Infitada a lot of the skilled construction and other people are from Turkey. This could be another "backlash" episode for AQ. Like Texas, I wouldn't want to mess with Turkey! |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2003-11-17 11:01:31 AM |
| #1 Update: Neve Shalom's security cameras caught one of the attackers moments before the blast, he said. "He is in the footage, although it is not clear. We are trying to establish their identities... It is also not clear whether they were Turkish citizens or foreigners." The Turkish authorities have also said that closed-circuit television at each synagogue filmed the licence plates of both vehicles. Their owners have been traced and are being questioned, although they have denied any involvement in the attacks. Better have filed that stolen vehicle report well before the blast, guys. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-11-17 9:30:50 AM |