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Turkey seizes âbomberâs cousinâ
Who does those Beeb headlines? They've seized the 'bomber's cousin' and now they're 'working him over.' It's probably 'very painful.'Turkish police have arrested a relative of one of the suspected masterminds of last monthâs Istanbul bombings. All together now; "Itâs a family afair". Mehmet Kus was taken to a state security court on Tuesday, according to Anatolia news agency. Turkish papers say police seized enough explosives in his house for five lorry bombs of the kind used to attack two synagogues, a bank and the British consulate, killing 62 people. Mr Kus is reported to be a cousin of Habip Aktas, who is alleged to be one of the key planners of the attacks. Habib Aktas, Azad Ekinci and Gurcan Bac are the three reported leaders who either skipped to Iran, or are in Iraq planning attacks on US Forces. Turkish media say his arrest came after another arrested suspect, Osman Eken, made a confession to prosecutors. "Ouch, that hurt! The explosives are in Kusâs attic, now stop hitting me." Mr Kusâs arrest also reportedly led to the detention of 11 people in Istanbul and the town of Konya, including one man, Harun Ilhan, who is alleged to have links with al-Qaeda. Among the explosive materials allegedly found in Mr Kusâ house were 12 sacks of potassium nitrate fertiliser, which was used in last monthâs attacks. One report said the explosives were being stored for use once the current security clampdown had been come to an end. Hiding explosives and lying low, good idea. Hiding explosives in your own house, dumb idea. A man arrested last week, Adnan Ersoz, was described by police as the link-man between a Turkish extremist cell and an international terrorist group. Which shall remain (al-Qaeda) nameless. Newspapers said he got instructions directly from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. He now says meeting was in 2001, prior to Tora Bora. With planning of bombing taking two years, that fits. Posted by: Steve 2003-12-23 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=23240 |