The targets were all foreign interests. The blasts, like those of last Saturday which targeted synagogues, are probably part of the wave of Al-Qaida violence that was foreseen for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It is also possible that the blasts targeted the British consulate "in honor" of President George Bush's visit to Great Britain. However, experts point out that Al-Qaida terror hits are usually planned a very long time in advance. It is also likely that these blasts were planned before the war in Iraq, according to analysts. Today's blasts confirm the surmise of this writer, that Saturday's attacks on the synagogues had nothing to do with antisemitism, despite the belief voiced by so many in Israel. They are much worse than antisemitism, because they are an attempt to enforce the idea that the problems between the West and Muslim countries are due to a culture war. The attackers want to restore the xenophobia of a bygone era, and prevent any rapprochement in the "war of civilizations."

Needless to say, the association of these attacks with the holy month of Ramadan is obscene.

As with every such barbaric attack, I must repeat at the risk of boring my readers, that attacks against civilians are inexcusable, and that attacks like this can only take place, in part, because the international community, including "peace" activists, are not willing to speak out against violence, and to create an international morality that unequivocally condemns murder of civilians for any reason.

Ami Isseroff

[Casualty reports increase as time goes by. There is apparently a great deal of confusion in the area
of the blasts. Turkish FM Gul has said Turkey would not `bow to terror' - mewnews]

Powerful blasts kill at least 27 in Istanbul
British Consul General among the dead

Thursday, November 20, 2003 Posted: 1:09 PM EST (1809 GMT)

Map: Blast sites in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Powerful explosions ripped through the British Consulate and a London-based bank near a popular shopping area in Istanbul Thursday -- killing at least 27 people and wounding more than 450 others, Turkish officials said.

Seventeen people were killed at the consulate and 10 in the shopping area in the neighborhood of Levent, the Turkish Interior Ministry said.

Consul General Roger Short was among those killed, said Ian Sherwood, chaplain of the British Consulate. One of the main buildings was "completely demolished," he said.

It was the second coordinated attack in Istanbul in the last week. On Saturday, 25 people were killed in car bombings of two synagogues. (Full story)

Video from the scene of Thursday's attacks showed shattered windows along the narrow streets near the consulate and some areas reduced rubble. People could be seen trying to remove debris by hand from around buried cars and rescuers with search dogs were searching for survivors.

Another blast, outside an HBSC bank, ripped the facade off the tall building. Video of a nearby shopping mall showed chaos with people streaming out of the area, some with bloody faces and blood-soaked clothes. Shattered glass and burned vehicles littered the street. (Full story)

Sherwood said the consulate had been "secure as possible," but that the bombing was "huge." He said his house down the street shook, and the whole neighborhood was damaged.

Turkish officials said that bombing, in the Levent neighborhood, occurred shortly before 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET).

Witnesses said they thought suicide attackers used explosive-packed vehicles.

A spokesman for Britain's HBSC bank said two of the bank's buildings were struck.

"They seem to be organized international terrorism," Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Huseyin Dirioz said following Thursday's attacks. Dirioz said his government will "fight against all sorts of international terrorists."
Al Qaeda, Turkish group claim responsibility

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu told reporters there were similarities between Thursday's attacks and Saturday's car bombings of the two synagogues. "Probably some trucks were used in carrying explosives" Thursday, Aksu said.

Local officials said the attacks seem to have been substantially larger than Saturday's.

Shortly after Thursday's bombings, a government office in Istanbul received a phone call claiming to be from al Qaeda and a Turkish Islamic militant group --the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (IBDA-C) -- claiming joint responsibility, CNN Turk reported. (Expert: Al Qaeda to blame)

IBDA-C also claimed responsibility for Saturday's synagogue bombings, which killed 23 people in addition to two suicide bombers. But Turkish officials said the synagogue attacks were carried out by two Turkish nationals linked to a group in Afghanistan which may have ties to al Qaeda.


An injured woman is carried away from the British Consulate blast site in Istanbul on Thursday.

Aksu warned against speculation on which group is responsible for the attacks, saying that could hamper the investigation. (Full story)

Speaking in London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the attacks "appalling acts of terrorism" which have "all the hallmarks" of an al Qaeda attack.

U.S. officials said Thursday they have seen multiple claims of responsibility for the attacks. "Al Qaeda is always a good guess though," said a senior official, "based on the targets, the modus operandi and so on."

President Bush was in London on a state visit. He and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, at a joint news conference, condemned the blasts and vowed to defeat terrorism.

"Cruelty is part of their strategy. The terrorists hope to intimidate. They hope to demoralize," said Bush. "They're not going to succeed. Great Britain, America and other free nations are united today in our grief and united in our determination to fight and defeat this evil wherever it is found."

Said Blair, "We must affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back, no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it wherever and whenever we can, and in defeating it utterly." (Full story)

A White House spokesman said Washington is monitoring the situation.

Straw told the House of Commons that the country is taking measures to step up security at facilities at home and abroad.

Aksu said Turkey was banning media coverage at the sites "to investigate the incident more properly." It was not clear how much coverage would be curtailed.

The United States and Britain warned their citizens to proceed cautiously in Istanbul after the attacks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3222608.stm

Bomb attacks on the British consulate and the HSBC bank headquarters in Istanbul have left at least 25
dead and up to 400 injured.

British Consul-General Roger Short was among at least 14 people killed in the attack on the consulate, its chaplain Ian Sherwood said.

Both attacks are believed to have been carried out by suicide bombers. Witnesses reported seeing a van
driving straight at the consulate building before the explosion.

The explosions follow last Saturday's suicide bomb attacks against two synagogues in Istanbul that killed 23 people.

Responding to news of the blasts, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said there could be "no holding back" in
confronting the "menace" of global terrorism.

US President George Bush said the bombers had shown "utter contempt" for human life.

Istanbul is a city in chaos, the BBC's Steve Bryant says.

There is collapsed masonry, shattered windows, burned out cars and general scenes of confusion at the two sites. Much of the city's phone network has been cut.

Hospitals are inundated with hundreds of wounded people, traffic is blocking the roads and crisis
officials are asking people to leave the centre to clear the way for ambulances.

HSBC said that "a number" of its staff had been killed.

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the attacks they bore all the hallmarks of al-Qaeda and ssociated
organisations.

A man who called the semi-official Anatolia news agency claimed that al-Qaeda and the Turkish Islamic
militant group IBDA-C had jointly carried out the attacks.

The 15-storey headquarters of the London-based bank towers over a busy shopping area, which correspondents say would have been crowded when the explosion occurred at 1110 Turkish time (0910GMT).

The consulate bomb occurred two minutes later.

'Organised terror'

Turkish Foreign Minister Abullah Gul said Turkey would not bow to terror.

"We are faced with organised terrorist attacks," he said. "This time it was British interests, last week
it was two synagogues."

Murat Emre Duman was working in a building near the HSBC bank.

He said he saw "yellow smoke" coming out of the tower, and "shattered glass from cars and windows
everywhere".

The explosion killed the 28-year-old wife of a friend, he told BBC News Online.

"I saw her body. My friend doesn't even recognise me. He's in a state of shock."

Trading on the Istanbul stock exchange was suspended after the explosions and the Turkish lira dived on foreign exchange markets.

A group claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda also claimed responsibility for the synagogue attacks last
Saturday.

It warned that new attacks against the US and its allies were being planned.

The Foreign Office in London issued the following number for people to call for information about those
who may have been involved in the blasts: 020 7008 0000.

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Explosions rock Istanbul

By Haaretz Service and News Agencies.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/363358.html

At least three explosions rocked downtown Istanbul
on Thursday morning, near the British and Israeli
consulates, the HSBC Bank headquarters and the
Metro City shopping center in a residential area.
At least six people were killed and 100 wounded,
NTV television reported.

Several people were reported killed in an explosion that ripped off the wall surrounding the garden of the
British consulate in the downtown Beyoglu district, and body parts were scattered in front of the HSBC bank in
the Levent district, NTV television reported based on witness accounts. London-based HSBC is the world's second-largest bank.

An official from the Israeli consulate in
Istanbul said no consulate staff members were
harmed. A Jewish club and a synagogue were also
near one of the blasts.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned
the "appalling acts of terrorism" and said the
blasts bear all the hallmarks of Al-Qaida.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told the
Anatolian agency that Turkey would not bow to
terror.

CNN Turk said there were many wounded, and there
was a lot of property damage. Men and women
wept on the street, nursing their wounds, and
bodies lay amid wreckage outside the HSBC
building. "It sounds like it is pretty bad,"
said a British embassy spokesman.

Emergency services reportedly had difficulty
reaching the sites of the attacks, and were
slow in evacuating the wounded.

The front of the HSBC building, a towering white
block in the commercial district, appeared to
be shattered.

"The damage is very extensive," Chris Kitrinos,
an English teacher, told CNN television.
"Civilians are carrying people away from the
scene... There is debris and bodies around."

The Istanbul stock exchange was closed after the
explosions, and panicked citizens were reported
to be running through the streets.

Thursday's blasts come after explosions at two
Istanbul synagogues killed 24 people and
wounded hundreds last Saturday night.
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