7 jailed for life in al Qaeda Istanbul bombings

Istanbul, Feb 17: A Turkish court today sentenced seven people, including a Syrian al Qaeda militant, to life in prison for suicide bomb attacks on Jewish and British targets in Istanbul which killed more than 60 people in 2003.

Syrian Louai al Sakka was jailed for masterminding and securing finance for the truck bombings of two synagogues, the British consulate and an HSBC bank branch in November 2003 -- the deadliest peacetime bombings in Turkey.

Harun Ilhan, who admitted to plotting the bombings and being a member of al Qaeda, was also sentenced to life in prison. Five more people received life sentences while dozens of others received lighter sentences.

A Turkish cell in the al Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the attacks, which wounded more than 600.

''We are close to victory. The time for jihad (holy war) has come, but don't worry about me. I will get out, then I will once again join your jihad,'' Sakka said in court before the verdict.

A total of 74 people, nearly all Turks, were on trial for the bombings. Nine appeared in court today. Security was tight around the courthouse, with sharp-shooters on roof-tops and armoured personnel carriers stationed outside.

Security sources say Sakka, a bomb-making expert and alleged associate of former al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was the top figure in Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network in Turkey. He was accused of giving the militants more than 150,000 dollars to carry out the attacks in Istanbul.

Sakka, who cracked jokes with his co-defendants during the trial, had pleaded not guilty.

He was arrested in the southern Turkish resort of Antalya in 2005 after a police investigation into a botched plan to ram a bomb-laden boat into an Israeli cruise ship carrying tourists to Antalya.

He has yet to face trial for his alleged role in the cruise liner plot, defence lawyer Selahattin Karahan told Reuters.

Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member, is seen as a prime target for radical Islamist movements who loathe the European Union candidate's secular political system and its close links with the United States, Israel and Europe.

It was Turkey's highest-profile trial since the 1999 conviction of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Reuters