Istanbul Bombs Kill Two, Qaeda Group Claims Attacks

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Istanbul Bombs Kill Two, Qaeda Group Claims Attacks

By Daren Butler

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Simultaneous bomb attacks rocked two hotels and a gas depot in Istanbul on Tuesday, killing a Turk and an Iranian and injuring 11 including foreign tourists at the height of the holiday season.

A group claiming links to al Qaeda said it was behind the early morning attacks and warned of more to come, according to a message on an Islamist Web site.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu earlier said the perpetrators might be linked to separatist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas after a recent crackdown against them. <snip>

"The Mujahideen from the Abu Hafs (al-Masri) Brigades carried out the first in a series of operations which will be launched against European countries after they all rejected the truce offered by our sheikh (Osama bin Laden )," the Web message said. <snip>

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