Al Qaeda behind bombs

ISTANBUL - Britain was on high terror alert today ahead of United States President George W. Bush's visit after al Qaeda claimed responsibility for weekend bombings and threatened new attacks.

An Arabic newspaper said a unit of the al Qaeda network had claimed responsibility for synagogue bombings that killed at least 23 people in Turkey and which diplomats said were carried out by suicide bombers.

The London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi said a division of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda had sent it a statement claiming responsibility for simultaneous bombings in Istanbul and vowing more attacks.

The statement added that the militant network was planning more car bombings against the US and its allies Britain, Italy, Australia and Japan.

Britain has been placed on its second highest terror alert ahead of Bush's visit tonight.

Sky News reported that by the time he arrives, a ring of steel will surround Buckingham Palace, with 5000 police officers on duty to protect him.

Security chiefs were yesterday finalising the "unprecedented" policing operation.

The group which claimed responsibility for the Turkish attacks, the Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri, also claimed the attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad in August, which killed 23 people.

"The remaining operations are coming, God willing, and by God, Jews around the world will regret that their ancestors even thought about occupying the land of Muslims," the statement from the Brigades group said.

"We tell the criminal Bush and his Arab and Western tails - especially Britain, Italy, Australia and Japan - that cars of death will not stop at Baghdad, Riyadh, Istanbul, Nasiriyah, Jakarta, etc, until you see them with your own eyes in the middle of the capital of this era's tyrant, America."

The dollar sagged against European currencies yesterday on worries after the bombings. The mention of Japan in the warning also pulled down the Tokyo stock market.

Turkey and Israel, vowing not to let the blasts damage rare close ties between the Jewish state and a Muslim nation, have promised to track down the perpetrators of the attack, which killed Jews attending Sabbath prayers and Muslim passers-by.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said he would do everything in his power to bring those responsible to justice.

More than 70 victims remained in hospital after the attacks, in which the bombers detonated two vans loaded with explosives outside the two synagogues, wrecking buildings and cars over wide areas.

"Our determination to fight terrorism in the international arena continues because this event has international links," Erdogan said.

Of the al Qaeda claim, Erdogan said: "Our security teams and intelligence agencies must work and determine how correct these claims might be."

Working side-by-side, Turkish police and Israeli Mossad secret service teams combed through the wreckage outside the two synagogues in search of evidence.

"The Turkish probe has found that the two separate attacks were suicide bombings," a diplomatic source close to the investigation said.

Each vehicle in the Istanbul blasts was packed with 400kg of explosives and two corpses were found with wires attached to them suggesting they might be suicide bombers, Turkish media said.

The Baghdad assault on the UN offices also involved a vehicle loaded with explosives.

State-run Anatolian news agency quoted security sources as saying the bombs were made of ammonium sulphate, nitrate and petrol, all easily available, mixed in plastic containers.

- REUTERS