Fugitive Turkish Al Qaida convict arrested while working as Imam
A man who was convicted in his absence of involvement in a 2003 bomb attack against the HSBC bank in Istanbul and of membership of al Qaida has been arrested, according to Turkish media reports.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said the fugitive, identified by his initials ZC, was arrested on Wednesday in a village in the central Turkish province of Cankiri, where he was working as an acting village imam.
The private DHA agency reported that he had escaped to Afghanistan while on trial for his role in the attack. He was later convicted of membership of the al Qaida network and sentenced to six years in prison.
The al Qaida attacks in Istanbul in November 2003 targeted the HSBC bank, two synagogues and the British Consulate, killing 57 people.
- AP
