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Turkey: Life Sentence Requested For Main Suspect In 2003 Istanbul Bombings

Istanbul, 14 Nov. (AKI) - Turkish prosecutors have asked for a life prison sentence for a man they describe as a member of al-Qaeda and the mastermind of a series of bombings in Istanbul in November 2003 which killed 57 people and injured over 400. Syrian-born Louai Sakka is on trial along with 71 other suspects, 31 one of whom are in custody.

The attacks took place on two days: on 15 November two trucks packed with explosives slammed into two Jewish synagogues in Istanbul killing 27 people; on 20 November sucide bombers detonated explosives they were carrying in front of a HSBC banking group building and at the British consulate, killing in total 30 people.

Sakka was captured in 2005 while he was allegedly preparing a bomb attack on Israeli cruise ships docking at the Turkish coastal resort of Antalya in 2005.

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=

New Figure Emerges In Spain Train Bombings

Madrid, 13 Nov. (AKI) - Spanish police say they have identified a Moroccan man who first claimed responsibility for the deadly 11 March 2004 bomb attacks on commuter trains in Spain's capital, Madrid, which killed 191 people and injured over 1,000, Spanish daily El Pais reported. The paper named the man as Mohammed Oulad Akcha. But judge Juan Del Olmo, who is has led the investigation into the bombings, has so far ruled as inadmissible the evidence against Oulad Akcha - supplied by a single female witness under police protection.

Oulad Akcha read a message on video claiming responsibility for the Madrid train attacks. Declaring himself to be al-Qaeda's spokesman in Europe, he appeared in the video against the backdrop of a green banner emblazoned with a slogan that read in Arabic: "There is no other God than Allah and Mohammed is his prophet." Police recovered the video wrapped in a glove inside a rubbish bin outside the Grand Mosque, close to Madrid's M-30 ringroad.

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http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.359229084&par=0

Afghanistan: U.S. Forces Capture Al-Qaeda Escapee

Kabul, 13 Nov. (AKI) - US forces in Afghanistan have caught an al-Qaeda operative, Abu Nasir al-Qahtani, who had escaped from the US detention centre at the Bagram airbase. According to a report on the Pakistani newspaper The News, citing "supporters of the Taliban" in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan, the arrest occured recently in the south-eastern Afghan province of Khost.

On 6 November, US forces in Afghanistan said that they had captured on that day, in the course of an operation near Khost, a "known al-Qaeda operative and five other extremists."

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http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.359063628&par=0