Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 29 Fri. June 25, 2004  
   
World


3 killed in Istanbul blast ahead of Nato summit


Three people were killed in a powerful bomb blast in Istanbul yesterday, just days before world leaders including US President George W. Bush descend on the city for a Nato summit.

The attack on a public bus in Turkey's largest city occurred only hours after a small bomb exploded outside a hotel in the capital Ankara where Bush is expected to stay on Saturday, wounding three people.

Police said three people were killed and at least seven others injured in the Istanbul blast which occurred on a public bus outside a hospital in the European district of the city, despite a massive security operation.

Media reports put the number of injured to up to 20.

The bombing came seven months after a wave of deadly attacks against British and Jewish targets in Istanbul, which is hosting the Nato summit on June 28 and 29.

US diplomatic sources had said before the Istanbul blast that there were no immediate plans to change Bush's schedule, although the Turkish authorities pledged to boost security after the Ankara attack.

The US leader is due to arrive in Ankara on Saturday for talks with Turkish officials on Sunday and will then travel on to Istanbul for the two-day Nato meeting.

Security fears have been rife in Turkey since November when four suicide bombers, suspected members of a local al-Qaeda-linked cell, detonated explosive-laden trucks outside Jewish and British targets in Istanbul, claiming 63 lives and leaving hundreds of people injured.

Two of the wounded in the Ankara blast were policemen who were inspecting a suspicious parcel when it blew up near the entrance to the Hilton hotel, police chief Ercument Yilmaz said.