Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Boston Globe
July 11, 2008
Fled after attack on US Consulate
By Associated Press
ISTANBUL -- Turkish authorities yesterday captured a gunman wanted in the deadly attack on the US Consulate after rounding up suspects who had communicated with three other assailants killed by police, local media reports said.
Officials were investigating whether the attackers were linked to Al Qaeda. Police suspect the four gunmen had ties to the terrorist network but say so far, they have no proof of that connection.
Wednesday's attack on the consulate in Istanbul ignited a firefight that left three police officers and three assailants dead and prompted Turkey to increase security at all US diplomatic missions in the country.
The private Dogan news agency reported the fourth gunman, who fled after the attack, was caught after his getaway car was found earlier yesterday and he was being interrogated. Police in Istanbul confirmed the report but did not give details.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay said police detained four others suspected of links to the gunmen hours after shootout. Dogan reported one of the four was detained in a town on the Armenian border after authorities established he had been in frequent telephone contact with the assailants. The others were detained in Istanbul.
"What we need to do now is to determine [the assailants'] points of contact," Atalay told reporters.
Police had set up roadblocks around Istanbul as part of the search for the fugitive gunman, who had fled in a gray Ford Focus, according to witnesses and security camera footage. Police were stopping cars to check IDs, state-run Anatolia news agency said.
Turkish terrorism analysts said the country is a major Al Qaeda target but the latest attack lacked the sophistication of the terrorism network's usual operations.
At least three of the four attackers are most likely Kurdish. But police said they do not believe the attack is tied to a Kurdish separatist movement that has been fighting for autonomy from Turkey for more than two decades.
Erkan Kargin, one of the attackers killed, had traveled to Afghanistan, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Dozens of militants from Turkey have trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and some fought and died in Al Qaeda ranks in Iraq, Turkish officials say.
The Radikal newspaper reported Kargin crossed into Iran in September 2006 and returned to Turkey eight months later.
July 11, 2008
Fled after attack on US Consulate
By Associated Press
ISTANBUL -- Turkish authorities yesterday captured a gunman wanted in the deadly attack on the US Consulate after rounding up suspects who had communicated with three other assailants killed by police, local media reports said.
Officials were investigating whether the attackers were linked to Al Qaeda. Police suspect the four gunmen had ties to the terrorist network but say so far, they have no proof of that connection.
Wednesday's attack on the consulate in Istanbul ignited a firefight that left three police officers and three assailants dead and prompted Turkey to increase security at all US diplomatic missions in the country.
The private Dogan news agency reported the fourth gunman, who fled after the attack, was caught after his getaway car was found earlier yesterday and he was being interrogated. Police in Istanbul confirmed the report but did not give details.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay said police detained four others suspected of links to the gunmen hours after shootout. Dogan reported one of the four was detained in a town on the Armenian border after authorities established he had been in frequent telephone contact with the assailants. The others were detained in Istanbul.
"What we need to do now is to determine [the assailants'] points of contact," Atalay told reporters.
Police had set up roadblocks around Istanbul as part of the search for the fugitive gunman, who had fled in a gray Ford Focus, according to witnesses and security camera footage. Police were stopping cars to check IDs, state-run Anatolia news agency said.
Turkish terrorism analysts said the country is a major Al Qaeda target but the latest attack lacked the sophistication of the terrorism network's usual operations.
At least three of the four attackers are most likely Kurdish. But police said they do not believe the attack is tied to a Kurdish separatist movement that has been fighting for autonomy from Turkey for more than two decades.
Erkan Kargin, one of the attackers killed, had traveled to Afghanistan, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Dozens of militants from Turkey have trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and some fought and died in Al Qaeda ranks in Iraq, Turkish officials say.
The Radikal newspaper reported Kargin crossed into Iran in September 2006 and returned to Turkey eight months later.