Seven held over foiled Ankara bomb plot - report

ISTANBUL, Sep 16 (Reuters) Turkish police have detained seven people thought to be members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) over a bomb plot in Ankara foiled by police last week, state news agency Anatolian reported today.

The seven were detained in the eastern province of Van and a police operation was continuing, the agency said.

On Tuesday, the sixth anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks on the United States, Turkish police foiled what authorities said would have been a disastrous attack when they found a vehicle packed with explosives in a multi-storey car park in the capital.

Yesterday, Sabah newspaper said police had detained two people in connection with the plot, also suspected members of the PKK, which has been fighting for a Kurdish homeland since 1984.

The foiled attack followed a suicide bombing in May at a shopping centre in the fortified capital which killed at least six people and injured dozens.

Authorities blamed the PKK but the group, considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, denied involvement.

Reuters RC VP0118