ANKARA Ñ Turkey has cracked down on suspected Al Qaida insurgents
and arrested what officials suspect could be a major operative.
Officials said Turkish authorities launched raids throughout the country
for insurgents from Al Qaida and their allied groups. So far, they said,
more than 50 people have been arrested.
Many of those arrested are believed linked to an Islamic ally of Al
Qaida, named the Union of Imams. Officials said the group was uncovered
after
the arrest of a senior Al Qaida insurgent in April in the northwestern
Turkish city of Bursa.
The semi-official Anatolia news agency said Ali Uzum and three other
suspects were accused of leading the Union of Imams, believed to have been
trained by Al Qaida in Afghanistan. The group was said to have been based in
Iran and
trained to foment unrest in Turkey.
"During talks in Kabul with Arabs and especially with supporters of
Osama Bin Laden, it was being said that there would be a huge attack against
Americans either in America or some other place," Uzum was quoted by
Anatolia as telling police interrogators. "The attack would be carried out
to force Jews and Americans out of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem."
Among the Al Qaida insurgents arrested by Turkey was a suspected
cell of three members who had planned to launch a suicide attack in Israel.
The insurgents Ñ composed of two Palestinians and a Jordanian Ñ were
believed to have arrived in Turkey from Iran in February.
On Sunday, three bombs exploded in the Turkish city of Istanbul. Nobody
was hurt.
