Istanbul, January 22: A Saudi national wanted for suspected links to the Al Qaeda extremist network has been arrested in southern Turkey, Anatolia news agency quoted police as saying Friday.
The suspect, identified only as W.B., was detained along with an alleged Turkish collaborator in Adana in an operation that followed a tip-off that an Al Qaeda militant was in the city planning an unspecified act of violence.
The Saudi, who held a fake passport, had been wanted on an international warrant for terror-related charges in his country, local police said, according to Anatolia.
A court in Adana ordered that the Saudi be kept in jail, while releasing the Turk, it said.
The Turkish police have regularly targetted suspected Al Qaeda supporters since two sets of twin suicide bombings hit Istanbul five days apart in November 2003.
A Turkish cell of Al Qaeda was held responsible for the attacks, in which explosive-laden trucks first targeted two synagogues, and then the British consulate and a British bank, killing a total of 63 people, including the British consul.
Seven men were jailed for life in 2007 over the bombings, among them a Syrian national who had masterminded and financed the attacks.
–Agencies–