Bin Laden Upset At The Killing Of Muslims In Turkey
The information came from interrogations of a top suspect in last month’s deadly bombings in Istanbul that authorities believe were carried out by Turkish militants trained by al-Qa’ida in Afghanistan. The suspect, Fevzi Yitiz, told interrogators that bin Laden approved attacks in Turkey on condition that Turks were not killed, a top intelligence source said. But the militants instead bombed two synagogues, a London-based bank and the British Consulate, killing 62 people, mostly Muslims.
The attacks appear to be part of a growing trend in terrorism – bombings by al-Qa’ida trained activists who have returned to their home countries and are maintaining only weak ties with the central group, terrorism experts say.
"They planned and carried out the attack independently after receiving the blessing of bin Laden," said the Turkish intelligence official who is part of the investigation. The Istanbul bombings, simultaneous attacks against two synagogues on November 15 and two attacks against British targets only five days later, bore the signature of al-Qa’ida, an anti-terrorism police official said. A break in the case came when Yitiz was arrested on December 10 after infiltrating Turkey from Iran. Yitiz, a bearded man who appears to be about 30, confessed to police that he was trained by al-Qa’ida in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in 1994 and helped make the bombs used in the attacks inside a front workshop called "Rainbow Detergents" that was set up in an industrial section of Istanbul. Yitiz told police that two of his accomplices – Habib Aktas and Ibrahim Kus, who have been identified as key suspects – met with bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2002. The two militants told bin Laden "they wanted to do something in Turkey for the jihad," the intelligence official said. Yitiz told police bin Laden replied, "I am approving it on condition that it is directed against the Americans and their allies but not the Turks."
The killing of mostly Muslim Turks led top al-Qa’ida officials to criticize the attacks, according to Yitiz. Almost all of the world’s terrorist attacks attributed to al-Qa’ida since 9/11 have taken place in Muslim countries.
