Two Arabic-language newspapers got separate statements Sunday claiming Al-Qaeda network carried out Saturday the car bombings outside two Istanbul synagogues.
A statement received by the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi said a unit of al-Qaeda executed the attack because it learned that agents of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad were in the synagogues.
The claim was received by e-mail from the Abu Hafs al-Masri brigades, which is suspected of links to Al-Qaeda.
"The Mujahedeen of Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades ... after monitoring Mossad agents and confirming that five of the agents were present in two synagogues in central Istanbul, carried out their deadly blow," the statement said.
Another e-mailed claim of responsibility sent to the London-based weekly Al-Majallah said al-Qaida carried out the Istanbul attacks as well as the car bomb outside Italian police headquarters in Nasariyah, Iraq, on Nov. 12 that killed 19 Italians and more than a dozen Iraqis. Al-Majallah, which does not publish until Friday, provided excerpts of the e-mail to The AP. (Albawaba.com)
