Al-Qaida blamed as suicide bombers kill 27 in Istanbul

SUSPECTED al-Qaida suicide bombers targeted British interests in Istanbul yesterday, killing at least 27 people including the British consul, and leaving more than 450 injured in twin attacks.

The bombers, driving trucks packed with explosives, struck at the British consulate and London-based HSBC bank in the heart of the Turkish city.

The attacks came only days after a bloody terrorist strike on Istanbul synagogues. The worst terror bombings in Turkey's history coincided with US President George W Bush's trip to Britain and were blamed on Osama bin Laden's terror group.

Of the injured 110 were in hospital last night many critical. Security forces were on highest alert after the blasts occurred five minutes apart at about 11am Witnesses said one truck exploded just outside the HSBC building, while another crashed into the gate of the British consulate.

"The man rammed into the gates," said Interior Minister Abdulkadir

Aksu, describing the consulate bombing. The attacker then set it off, blowing himself up. The vehicle looked like a catering truck, with explosives placed in food cauldrons, police said.

British Consul-General Roger Short was among at least 16 killed at the consulate, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said.

"He was blown up immediately," said consulate chaplain Ian Sherwood.

"Once again we are reminded of the evil these terrorists pose to people

everywhere and to our way of life," Prime Minister Tony Blair said in London as he stood alongside Mr Bush.

"Once again we must affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back, no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it wherever and whenever we can and in defeating it utterly."

Mr Bush said the bombings showed "contempt for innocent life". An unidentified caller to the semi-official Anatolia news agency said al-Qaida and the militant Islamic Great Eastern Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, jointly claimed responsibility for attacks.

The blasts followed two synagogue bombings on Saturday that killed 23 people, plus the two bombers. Turkish authorities blamed the attacks on the same groups. Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Turkey will defeat terrorists and he deplored the timing of the attacks, during the

Islamic month of Ramadan.

"Those who bloodied this holy day and massacred innocent people will account for it in both worlds. They will be damned for eternity," he said.

The Turkish central bank said it was taking steps to prevent financial fallout from the attacks, and would intervene to stop fluctuations in the Turkish currency. Turkey's benchmark index dropped about 7%. It was the country's worst terrorist bombing and its highest single-day death toll since 1977, when gunmen opened fire on left wingers celebrating May Day killing 37 people.

Turkish army troops made a brief appearance on the streets in Istanbul, deploying on a major road and standing guard beside police in Istanbul. The first Istanbul blast was at the Turkish headquarters of HSBC, the world's second-largest bank, shearing off the facade of the 18-storey building and shattering the windows of nearby skyscrapers in the affluent district of Levent.

Body parts, the charred shells of cars and broken glass were scattered around a nine-foot-deep crater in the street outside the bank. Water gushed out of the top floors of the building.

Bystanders, bloodied and covered in dust, looked dazed as they walked past lines of ambulances. Several people helped carry the limp bodies of victims. Road signs laid on the ground, twisted next to fallen tree trunks.

Another bomb ripped off the wall of the garden of the British consulate in the Beyoglu district, a popular tourist destination with shops and restaurants. The US consulate was moved months ago to a more secure location. In the synagogue bombings, authorities arrested six people on Wednesday. A Turkish court charged five of them with "attempting to overthrow the constitutional structure," which carries a sentence of life imprisonment.

The two suicide bombers who attacked the synagogues were Turks. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said they had visited Afghanistan and investigators were pursuing al-Qaida links.