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| Iraq-Jordan | |
| Turkey Probes Possible Links Between Istanbul Bombers And Iraq Executioners | |
| 2004-08-04 | |
|  ANKARA, Aug 4 (AFP) - Turkish police were looking into the possibility that Turkish radical Islamists responsible for last year's bombings in Istanbul might have taken part in the execution of a Turkish worker in Iraq, Turkish newspapers reported Wednesday. Police launched the investigation after hearing brief remarks in Turkish in the video of the execution of Murat Yuce, a worker from a Turkish catering company who was kidnapped by the Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War) group affiliated to suspected Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. People unseen in the footage are heard to speak in Turkish before and after the blindfolded Yuce is shot in the head three times by one of three hooded gunmen, leading police to think that at least two Turkish nationals were present there, the mass-circulation Hurriyet said. Officials were investigating whether the suspected executioners include al-Qaeda linked Turkish militants who are believed to be behind a wave of suicide bombings in Istanbul in November last year which claimed more 60 lives and left hundreds more injured. Police believe that nine of the suspects involved in the bombings against two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank fled to Iraq before the carnage and have since been in contact with their families from the region, Hurriyet said. Among them is Habip Aktas, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, it said. "Even though those who carried out (Yuce's) execution hid their faces with masks, it is highly possible that one of the executioners who spoke Turkish was Habip Aktas," the newspaper quoted a senior official from the police anti-terror department as saying. Police were comparing the Turkish voice heard in the video of the execution to that recorded on a compact disc Aktas reportedly sent to media organizations, it added.
Yuce was the first Turkish national to be executed in Iraq. Several other Turkish nationals have also been kidnapped by Islamist extremists in Iraq, some have been released and others remain missing. Additional from Turkish Press:Video of execution of Murat Yuce of Turkey who was killed in Iraq two days ago caused the Turkish intelligence units to take action. Police focus on members of al-Qaeda groups in Turkey. Murat Kizil of Turkey who was freed after he was kept hostage for 25 days in Fallujah claimed that there were two persons speaking Turkish among the kidnappers but they were not Turks. Speaking to the newspaper, Kizil said, ''kidnappers were wearing masks. About their skin color, I can say that they seem like Arab rather than Turk or Turkmen. One of them told us that he had studied in Turkey.'' In the beginning of the video of Yuce's killing, one person behind the camera says in fluent Turkish, ''let him speak first''. Police focus on possibility that persons who had staged bombings in Istanbul on November 15 and 20 might have been behind this killing. Meanwhile, it is stressed that dangerous period has started for more than 12 thousand Turks working in Iraq. | |
| Posted by:Steve |