Turk police seize 11 al Qaeda suspects - agency

Istanbul, May 30 (Reuters) Turkish police detained 11 suspected al Qaeda members today who were planning an attack in Istanbul, state run agency Anatolian reported.

Police in Istanbul could not confirm the report. Private television CNN Turk and Dogan News Agency reported earlier that 10 people had been detained.

Anatolian said police also seized false passports and documents related to al Qaeda in raids in several districts of Turkey's largest city.

Police in secular, mainly Muslim Turkey have carried out several operations against suspected Islamic militants since Istanbul was hit in November 2003 by a series of bombings claimed by a cell of al Qaeda.

More than 60 were killed in those attacks, which targeted two synagogues, HSBC bank's headquarters in Turkey and the British Consulate.

Tensions have been running especially high in Turkey since a suicide bomber killed six people and injured scores more last week in an attack on a shopping mall in the capital Ankara.

Turkish authorities blamed the Ankara attack on Kurdish militants. Police have detained several suspected members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in recent days.

REUTERS RS KN2101