Turkey Holds 10 Suspected of Arming Syria Islamist Rebels: Media
By REUTERS
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey detained 10 people on Tuesday on suspicion of
providing weapons and fighters in the name of al Qaeda to Islamist rebels
trying to topple the Syrian government, highlighting the dilemma Turkey
faces as one of the rebel movement's biggest backers.
Turkey, which is now hosting some 400,000 Syrians who have fled the war, is
one of President Bashar al-Assad's most outspoken critics and has given the
rebels shelter and logistical support, although it denies arming them.
A camp dedicated to soldiers who have defected from the Syrian government
army sits along Turkey's southern border with Syria and rebel fighters are
able to cross freely back and forth across the frontier.
Yet at the same time, it has no desire to let the radical Islamist groups
who have joined the rebel cause, notably the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front,
operate on its territory or recruit Turkish citizens.
The suspects were arrested in Konya province, some 250 km (150 miles) south
of the capital Ankara, after police were tipped off that a "radical Islamist
group" was persuading young men to join the Syrian insurgents, Turkey's
private Dogan News Agency said.
According to the report, the men were also suspected of supplying handguns
and rifles to the rebels, who have been fighting to overthrow Assad in a
civil war that started as a peaceful street uprising two years ago.
Konya police declined to comment on the detentions.
Television footage on Dogan's website showed handcuffed men with long beards
being escorted to police headquarters after being detained during what it
said were dawn raids at several addresses in Konya.
"This case is not about al Qaeda, we have been detained because we read the
Koran, because we are Muslims, and because we help Syrians," one man told
reporters as he was led away.
Western powers, who have also pledged aid for the rebels but stopped short
of providing weapons, have also expressed concern that al Qaeda-affiliated
militants have been gaining ground in Syria. Reports are growing that their
numbers are being swelled by foreigners, including Turks.
Last week, Turkish media reported that police had uncovered a plot linked to
al Qaeda to bomb the U.S. embassy in Ankara, a synagogue in Istanbul and
other targets.
Unconfirmed reports said more than 10 people had been arrested and
explosives seized in relation to the suspected plot during police raids in
February in Istanbul and Tekirdag, to the west.
Earlier in February, a suicide bomber killed one Turkish security guard and
wounded several other people in an attack on the U.S. mission in Ankara that
was claimed by a leftist group.
While Turkish police often arrest suspected Islamist militants and describe
them as having links to al Qaeda, details seldom emerge. Al Qaeda was behind
bomb attacks in 2003 that killed some 60 people and wounded hundreds in
Istanbul.
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