Turkish police arrest 28 in anti-terror operation

ANKARA: Turkish anti-terrorist police have arrested 28 people on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda during a series of raids. Quoting local officials, the Anatolia news agency said that he suspects were rounded up in simultaneous operations in several districts in the western city of Eskisehir. However, the local governor, Mehmet Kiliclar, declined to elaborate on the details so not to jeopardise the investigation. The suspects, currently being questioned by police, will in the coming days appear before a court which will decide whether to charge or release them. Last month, a Turkish newspaper reported that the government in Ankara had received information from US intelligence that al-Qaeda militants could be plotting attacks on foreign targets in Turkey. A Turkish cell of al-Qaeda was held responsible for truck bombs against two synagogues, the British consulate and the HSBC bank in Istanbul in 2003, which killed 63 people and left hundreds injured. Seven men were jailed for life in 2007 over the bombings, among them a Syrian national who masterminded and financed the attacks. In January, a suspected al-Qaeda militant was killed and three others captured in a shootout with the police in Istanbul after the group attempted to rob a post office.