Four suspects detained over US consulate attack

Police in Istanbul tighten security as three officers are laid to rest

Policemen attend the funeral of their colleagues killed in the attack against the US consulate, at police headquarters in Istanbul yesterday.

By Daren Butler - Reuters

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Police detained four suspects and patrolled the high-walled perimeter of the US consulate in Istanbul yesterday after three policemen and three gunmen were killed in what a minister said was a suicide attack.

Busloads of police were stationed outside the mission, where the US flag flew at half-mast. Security was tightened at other diplomatic installations and police manned checkpoints across the sprawling city to check the identity of passing motorists.

The attack coincides with political tension in Turkey. The governing party is fighting to avoid being banned for alleged anti-secular activities and police are investigating a shadowy far-right group suspected of plotting a military coup.

Interior Minister Besir Atalay said police had obtained more information on the consulate attack from the four suspects and were taking it seriously. Three of them were seized in Istanbul.

He said more people may be detained, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. Police were still seeking a fourth person at the scene who escaped during the gunbattle.

«The general view is that this was a suicide attack,» Atalay told reporters at Istanbul police headquarters after an official funeral ceremony for the three officers.

Turkish police were investigating whether al-Qaida was behind Wednesday's attacks. Newspapers reported that the gunmen who carried it out had received weapons training in Afghanistan. Atalay said only one gunman seemed to have traveled abroad.

There was skepticism among some security experts that al-Qaida was behind the assault on the consulate, given the small scale and amateurish nature of the attack.

At the official funeral ceremony at police headquarters in Istanbul, lines of police and officials said prayers in front of the three officers' coffins, draped in Turkish flags.

«We saw once more that terror is ruthless, has no religion, faith or nationality. We condemn terrorism from wherever it comes. We will continue the fight against terrorism to the end,» Atalay said.

Turkey has seen violent attacks from a variety of groups over the years, including far-left, Kurdish and Islamist militants.

The most serious were in November, 2003, when 62 people were killed by Islamists who struck at two synagogues, a bank and the British consulate in Istanbul.

The US consulate had already been moved to a more secure location in Istanbul following the September 11, 2001 al-Qaida attacks in New York.