Turkey arrests 16 suspected Al-Qaeda linked militants

The suspects were members of the radical Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, which is believed to be linked to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda, police in the city of Bursa said in a statement carried by Anatolia news agency.
It gave no further details, but the agency said the governor of Bursa was expected to make a detailed statement later.

Turkey is under pressure to ensure water-tight security at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, which is scheduled for June 27-28 and will be attended by dozens of world leaders, including US President George W. Bush.

Fears over terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city which straddles the Bosphorus, have been heightened since four suicide bombings targeted two synagogues, the British consulate and the HSBC bank in the city last November. Sixty-two people were killed and hundreds injured.

Officials have blamed the November bombings on local Islamic extremists with links to the Al-Qaeda and have indicted 69 people over the attacks.

Ansar-Al Islam, founded in December 2001 by the Norway-based Iraqi Kurd Mullah Krekar, used to control a small enclave in northeastern Iraq before it was crushed by US forces in late March last year. It then had about 700 to 900 members.

On March 22, the United States added Ansar al-Islam to its official list of terrorist organizations, saying it is linked to Al-Qaeda and has mounted attacks against US-led forces in Iraq.