Security stepped up for summit

TURKISH police sealed off streets, searched cars and detonated suspicious packages yesterday as part of a massive security sweep a day before US President George W Bush arrives in Turkey and a day after twin bombings killed four people in two cities.

Around the convention centre in Istanbul where a NATO summit begins on Monday, police installed heavy, dark-blue steel barricades.

Officers searched cars and frisked people travelling along the road leading to Istanbul's airport, causing gridlock along the city's already clogged streets.