ISTANBUL - Three alleged members of an extreme-left group, which figures on an EU terror list, have been arrested for planning attacks on leading US firms and banks, Turkish news agencies reported Sunday.
The three men were seized in Istanbul on Wednesday, along with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, two pistols and 35 kilogrammes of chemical fertiliser, according to the Anatolia news agency.
Police cited by the agency said the three -- two alleged members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and an accomplice -- were planning "spectacular" attacks on Istanbul business owned by overseas firms.
Another press agency, DHA, said the men had in their possession when arrested a list of addresses of US firms, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Citibank.
The three have been charged with "belonging to an outlawed organisation", "carrying illegal arms", "using fake identities", and placed in provisional detention.
The DHKP-C figures on a European Union list of terrorist organisations, and has claimed numerous attacks against Turkey since the mid-1970s, which have killed dozens, including two retired generals and a former justice minister.
However in recent years it had become less active, and had apologised to the Turkish people after a bomb accidentally went off in an Istanbul bus in 2004, killing four.
nc/mat/ach
03/09/2008 21:24 GMT