Bombing Suspect Tied to Al Qaeda
ANKARA, Turkey — A Turkish man suspected of preparing the truck bombs that killed 62 people in Istanbul last month confessed that he received explosives training at an Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, an intelligence official said Monday.
Fevzi Yitiz also told police that two accomplices met with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in the summer of 2002 and received his blessing for the attacks, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The confessions of Yitiz may shed light on the suspected ties between Turkish Islamic militants and Bin Laden’s network.
Yitiz was captured Dec. 10 as he entered Turkey from Iran, the official said. A Turkish court filed terrorism charges against Yitiz on Sunday for his alleged involvement in the bombings.
Suicide bombers targeted two synagogues Nov. 15. Five days later, suicide bombers attacked the British Consulate and a London-based British bank, also in Istanbul.
The intelligence official said Yitiz told interrogators that he underwent three months of training in explosives and martial arts at an Al Qaeda camp in 1994. The official said the four suicide bombers in the synagogue attacks, all Turkish nationals, also trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.
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