ISTANBUL (CIHAN) - Istanbul police detained 18 Uzbeks and Chechens just ahead of the historic NATO summit due to suspected links with Al Qaeda.
Six of the 18, have been sentenced to death in Uzbekistan for their opposition to the regime. The were reportedly trained in the Al-Qaeda camps in Tajikistan and Pakistan. A senior security official said that the detainees were trained in bomb making. An official, speaking anonymously, said that the operation, which took place three days ago, was the most important operation prior to the NATO summit.
The Istanbul Anti-terror team raided three houses in the Zeytinburnu section of Istanbul and detained the 18. Under interrogation, the detainees confessed to being trained by Al Qaeda in Tajikistan and Pakistan. They reportedly fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya. The militants have high-level Al Qaeda connections.
The Istanbul State Security Court, however, released the 18 detainees because they were not involved in any terrorist or illegal activities. Security officials confirmed that the detainees were not plotting any attacks in Istanbul.
Security across Turkey is under the spotlight in the build-up to the NATO Summit to be held in Istanbul today and tomorrow. Istanbul will be under air, sea and land security watch during the NATO summit.
Turkish police have taken unprecedented security measures for the summit that will include the leaders of 46 countries including US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac.
A percussion bomb on Thursday detonated in front of the Ankara Hilton Hotel where US President stayed yesterday evening, leaving three people including two police officers wounded. Four people were killed and 20 were wounded on Thursday in a public bus in Istanbul when a percussion bomb went off.
A Turkish cell of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network carried out the deadly suicide attacks which targeted Jewish and British interests in Istanbul last November, killing 61 people and injuring over 750.