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KUSADASI, Turkey, July 17 (AFP) - 19h04 -
Suspicions in a probe into the deadly bombing of a
minibus in this Turkish seaside resort have focused
on Kurdish separatists, officials said Sunday, as
police determined that a bomb in a waist pack hidden
in the vehicle caused the blast.
Five people, among them a British and an Irish
tourist, were killed and 13 injured when the
explosion tore apart a minibus shuttling between
central Kusadasi and a nearby beach Saturday, just
one week after a bomb attack injured 20 people in
the nearby resort of Cesme.
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), a group the
authorities associate with the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), blacklisted as a terrorist organization
by the United States and the European Union, claimed
responsibility for the Cesme blast and threatened
more attacks on tourist targets.
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion
in Kusadasi and no suspect has been detained, a
senior government official told AFP Sunday.
"The general suspicion is that it was the PKK, but
this will remain only a hypothesis until a definite
conclusion is reached," he said.
The PKK, which has attacked civilians in the past,
denied any role in the blast, rejecting also any
links with TAK.
"We have nothing to do with the act at Kusadasi,"
said a PKK statement carried by the pro-Kurdish MHA
news agency. "We have no links with organizations
such as TAK either."
The explosives were placed in a waist pack that was
hidden under the back seats of the vehicle, Mustafa
Malay, the governor of Aydin province, where
Kusadasi is located, told AFP.
"It was either a time bomb or one detonated by
remote control," Malay said, adding that survivors
reported hearing some noise from under the seats
shortly before the bomb went off.
"We hope the technical examination of the explosives
used in the blast will give us clues about the
perpetrators," he said.
Asked whether the attack might be the work of the
PKK, he said: "It's possible but nothing is certain
yet."
The possibility of a suicide bomber, initially
considered by the police, was discarded after all
the dead and wounded were identified.
Malay said earlier the blast was most probably
caused by powerful C4 plastic explosive, Anatolia
news agency reported.
The Turkish army recently warned that PKK militants,
who went into hiding in the mountains of neighboring
northern Iraq in 1999 after declaring a unilateral
ceasefire, were sneaking back, bringing with them
large amounts of
Turkish officials, however, believe TAK is a cover
for attacks, particularly on civilian targets, which
the PKK does not want to claim in order to avoid
damaging its claim of defending Turkey's Kurds
against state oppression.
TAK first emerged last August, weeks after the PKK
called off the 1999 truce, claiming responsibility
for the bombing of two Istanbul hotels, in which two
people died.
The group claimed another explosion in Kusadasi in
April which killed a policeman, and most recently
the Cesme blast.
Kurdish rebels have in the past targeted tourist
areas in a bid to intimidate foreigners and
undermine the lifeline that Turkey's flourishing
tourism industry provides for the fragile economy.
After Saturday's blast the police stepped up
security measures in other major touristic centers
in the region, report said.
Turkey has also been the target of local extremists
linked with the Al-Qaeda network. Four suicide
bombings in Istanbul in November 2003 killed 63
people and injured some 750 others.
Despite the horror the blast caused, life in
Kusadasi appeared to quickly return to normal as
holiday-makers again swarmed the beaches Sunday.
"There is no change. The nightclubs were packed last
night," said Efe Balkan, a Turkish youth working at
a local bed and breakfast.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis sent a
message on Sunday to his Turkish counterpart Recep
Tayyip Erdogan condemning the attack and expressing
condolences to the families of victims, according to
a text of the letter made public.
AFP
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