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| Europe |
| Turkey seizes ’key bomb suspect’ |
| 2003-12-19 |
| Turkish police say they are holding a key suspect with alleged links to international terrorism over last month’s bomb attacks in Istanbul. Press reports name him as Adnan Ersoz and say he is one of the leaders of a cell which planned the suicide attacks. They also allege that Mr Ersoz met al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden to receive instructions about the bombings. Ah, one of the guys who says he met Binny. A written statement by the Turkish police says that the suspect was captured on Monday as he tried to enter Turkey. Coming back, was he? Getting ready for a new attack, or did he forget his toothbrush. It says he told interrogators that a local structure had been established with links to "an international terrorist organisation". Guess who? It adds that the suspect said this international organisation provided military and political training abroad, as well as money to carry out the attacks. The statement said the suspect was the link-man with the organisation. A controller, wonderful. Break out the good truncheons. The police did not mention any names, and declined to confirm media reports identifying the man as Adnan Ersoz. I don’t recall his name popping up before. The Anatolia news agency said Mr Ersoz was taken to the State Security court on Friday for interrogations. Olympic gold medal winning truncheon team. The mass-circulation Hurriyet daily claimed that Mr Ersoz was trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and received the order for the four bombings directly from Osama Bin Laden. Directly, you say? We’ll need date, time and GPS locations. Several media reports claim that Mr Ersoz confirmed that the cell’s first target was a Turkish military base used by the US in southern Turkey, but that tight security there led to the choice of softer targets. Looks like they have confirmation from several sources. Turkish police have so far detained about 30 people in connection with the suicide attacks. They include one of the alleged bomb makers, but three men identified by the media as co-leaders of the local cell, together with Adnan Ersoz, are believed to be abroad. Last we heard, they had skipped to Iran. Additional material from Turkish press news: Istanbul Anti-Terrorism office said on Friday that one person who was claimed to provide the connection between an international terrorist organization and the structure formed in Turkey in connection with that organization was captured. Recalling that operational studies started following the four bomb attacks in Istanbul, Istanbul Anti-Terrorism office said that ’’a member of the terrorist organization whose connection with the captured persons was detained when he entered the country by airway on December 15, 2003. They’ve had him since Monday, excellent. In his interrogation, the captured person said that a structure was formed in Turkey in connection with an international terrorist organization, he was abroad to provide the connection between that structure and the terrorist organization. The persons who were within that structure received military and political training by that terrorist organization abroad and the activities were financed by the international terrorist organization, he noted.’’ Singing like a bird. IMAM WHO TAKES ORDERS FROM LADEN CAPTURED Adnan Ersoz, one of people who plotted Istanbul bomb attacks, was captured. It was stated that Ersoz was trained in Al Qaida camps and personally received instruction for international terrorist Osama Bin Laden to ’’bomb’’ mentioned sites. Ersoz, one of members of organization named ’’Imams’’ is being interrogated for three days. Styling themselves "Imams", how holy. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 ...is being interrogated for three days Does that mean "for three days now," or, "for the next three days," or what? A mistranslation, no doubt, but an amusing image nonetheless. Heh. |
| Posted by: Glenn (not Reynolds) 2003-12-19 3:38:48 PM |
| #6 You're right Spot. Just like a cop, you can't find a troll when you need one:) |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2003-12-19 1:56:35 PM |
| #5 How come we haven't heard from Murat recently on this? Oh that's right, because he was wrong about the Kurds being behind it. I still say Turkey needs to take the Syria connection more seriously. |
| Posted by: Spot 2003-12-19 11:47:15 AM |
| #4 Gee, I didn't know Iman's had a Union. Wonder if we can get them all to strike. Would we have to ululate silently? |
| Posted by: mhw 2003-12-19 10:20:06 AM |
| #3 Another tidbit: NTV said Ersoz was among four ringleaders of the group behind the blasts, which it called the Union of Imams. It said about 500 members of this little-known group were at large. NTV said the authorities had drawn up a list of 12 radical Islamist groups, most of them very small, believed to be active in Turkey, including the Union of Imams and IBDA-C. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-12-19 10:04:59 AM |
| #2 More from AP: Adnan Ersoz, who was captured Monday in Istanbul, confessed that he underwent explosives training in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Police said in a statement a man was seized as he entered the country upon his arrival by plane. They did not identify the man or give details but said they had been hunting him. The semiofficial Anatolia news agency also quoted police sources as saying that Ersoz was the suspect. The police statement said the man told interrogators that "a local structure has been established in Turkey in link to an international terrorist organization." Intelligence officials said the statement was referring to al-Qaida. "He is one of the top guys who met with bin Laden and received his blessing for the attacks," the intelligence official said. Intelligence officials already have named Habip Aktas and Ibrahim Kus as two conspirators who met with bin Laden in 2002 and received his consent and approval to stage terrorist attacks in Turkey. It was not clear if Ersoz participated that meeting or met separately with bin Laden, the official said. Ersoz was expected to be charged with involvement in the bombings later Friday. The official said that Ersoz was believed to be a messenger between the al-Qaida and the Turkish militants. Aktas and Kus are still at large. The intelligence official identified another key but lower ranking suspect as Gokhan Bac, who also was at large. Bac was suspected of preparing the bomb with another captured militant, Fevzi Yitiz. Ersoz was captured in Istanbul only one week after Turkish forces arrested Yitiz after he sneaked into Turkey from Iran. Ersoz's name was first learned by the police during the interrogation of another key suspect Yusuf Polat, captured earlier. In his interrogation, Ersoz allegedly confirmed that their first target was a Turkish military base used by the United States in southern Turkey, but militants stymied by tight security bombed two synagogues on Nov. 15 and the British Consulate and a London-based bank in Istanbul only five days later. The daily newspaper Hurriyet also reported Friday that Ersoz has said the militants have been preparing for the attacks for about two years. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-12-19 9:54:44 AM |
| #1 Well...if he is telling the truth about Binny..this will certainly be a big boost to finding him. I've always been of the mindset that Binny would not be able to stay away from the lime-light so long and I still think that's true. But if he is alive...we'll find him now. |
| Posted by: B 2003-12-19 9:33:10 AM |