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Explosions rock Istanbul
Bomb attacks on the British consulate and the HSBC bank headquarters in Istanbul have left at least five dead and many injured. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned what he described as an "appalling act of terrorism" saying it had all the hallmarks of al-Qaeda and associated organisations. He said three or four consulate employees had not yet been accounted for. The 15-storey bank headquarters is located in a busy shopping area, which correspondents say would have been crowded when the explosion occurred at 1110 Turkish time. The consulate bomb occurred two minutes later. Turkish Foreign Minister Abullah Gul was quoted as saying that Turkey would not bow to terror. An AFP reporter on the scene said two annexes fronting the consulate had been destroyed. "Itâs total chaos, ambulances cannot get to the scene," said an English teacher at a school next to the consulate, Chris Kitrinos. "The damage is very extensive. Iâve been told that there are people lying around... Civilians are carrying people away from the scene." The Istanbul stock exchange was suspended after the explosions and the lira dived on foreign exchange markets. A group claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the synagogue attacks last Saturday. It warned that the new attacks against the US and its allies were being planned. Posted by: Bulldog 2003-11-20 |
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