Judge evicts al-Qaeda man

2006-03-20 13:49

Istanbul - A judge ousted a key Syrian al-Qaeda suspect from his courtroom on Monday for contempt of court, after the suspect refused to stand up before him on the opening day of his trial for allegedly masterminding deadly bombings in Istanbul.

Loa'i Mohammad Haj Bakr al-Saqa is on trial, along with 72 other suspected al-Qaida militants, for alleged involvement in the series of suicide bombings that killed 58 people in Istanbul in 2003.

Judge Zafer Baskurt asked al-Saqa several times to stand up in court, and then ordered him thrown out when he refused.

"My beliefs prevent me from standing in front of people like you," al-Saqa told the judge.

As soldiers escorted him out, al-Saqa shouted: "I fought a Jihad, I killed Americans, I will not stand up before you!"

Baskurt also ordered a spectator detained for shouting in support of al-Saqa.

The court then proceeded with the trial without al-Saqa, formally joining the Syrian's case with the case of the 72 other suspects.

Turkish prosecutors claimed that Osama bin Laden personally ordered al-Saqa, 32, to carry out terror attacks in this predominantly Muslim but pro-Western country.

Accused of being point man

Al-Saqa is accused of serving as a point man between al-Qaeda and home-grown militants behind the November 2003 bombings, which destroyed a British bank, the British consulate and two synagogues. He is charged with giving the Turkish militants about $170 000.

Al-Saqa and his alleged Syrian accomplice, Hamid Obysi, were captured in Turkey in August after an alleged failed plot to attack Israeli cruise ships. Obysi is also on trial along with other al-Qaeda suspects.

Al-Saqa reportedly told interrogators that his failed plot to attack an Israeli cruise ship was financed by Taliban chief Mullah Omar, who allegedly gave him $50 000 to carry out attacks against Israeli targets in his name.

Omar is believed to have sought refuge in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

A prosecutor's indictment said al-Saqa had bought a speed boat and an underwater scooter to be used in that attack, as well as an apartment in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya for use as a safe house.

Al-Saqa admitted to failed plans to make a bomb and stage an attack on Israeli tourist ships. Al-Saqa and Obysi were captured after an accidental explosion forced them to flee the safe house in Antalya.

Al-Saqa had cosmetic surgery, according to a medical report, and operated by using an array of fake IDs and employing aliases, even with his al-Qaeda contacts, according to the indictment.

Several accused Turkish al-Qaida suspects recognised al-Saqa's photos, but identified him with different names, most calling him "Syrian Aladdin."

- AP