Ankara, Nov 29: Police investigating a string of deadly suicide bombings in Istanbul arrested a man suspected of ordering the attack on the Beth Israel synagogue, an Istanbul Police official said today. Istanbul Deputy Police chief Halil Yilmaz said the man was arrested Tuesday carrying a fake passport while trying to leave turkey through a border crossing with Iran. The man, whom he did not identify, made plans for the Beth Israel attack and ordered it, Yilmaz said.
Yilmaz said investigators brought the man to the wrecked synagogue early today as part of the ongoing investigation into the bombing of it and another synagogue on November 15. Those suicide truck bombings, along with the November 20 bombing of the British consulate and a British bank, killed 61 people - including the four bombers - and injured 712.
A total of 20 people have been charged in connection with bombings, police said.
Earlier today, a private television showed the man - bearded, handcuffed and appearing to be in his 20s - at Beth Israel speaking to an investigator.
Yilmaz said six other suspects had been sent to court to face possible charges.
Turkish authorities have identified the synagogue bombers as Mesut Cabuk and Gokhan Elaltuntas, both from the impoverished town of Bingol in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey. The consulate and bank bombers have yet to be officially identified. Bureau Report