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7 terrorists get life terms for Istanbul bombs

By TIMES WIRES
Published February 17, 2007

A Turkish court sentenced seven suspected al-Qaida militants to life in prison Friday for a pair of 2003 suicide bombings in Istanbul that killed 58 people, attacks prosecutors said were ordered by Osama bin Laden. Pandemonium erupted in the cramped, low-ceilinged courtroom as the sentences were announced. "A long sojourn in hell for infidels!" shouted one of the convicted men, Fevzi Yitiz. The defendants were among 74 suspects standing trial in the attacks, which targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and a London-based bank. The court acquitted 26 of the defendants, while sentencing the rest to terms ranging from three years and nine months to 18 years. Syrian Loa'i Mohammad Haj Bakr Al-Saqa, who was charged with masterminding the bombings, called on holy warriors to keep up their fight, declaring during final arguments Friday that "victory is very near!"

Incidents prompt U.N. nuclear call

Sweden's top nuclear officials decided Friday that U.N. experts should be invited to inspect the country's atomic power plants after a string of malfunctions raised concerns about safety. The relatively minor incidents have not posed any threat of radioactive leaks, but the frequency of the problems has sparked calls for a review of the safety controls at the power plants, which generate about half of Sweden's electricity. Friday's announcement came as a water leak forced the shutdown of one of four reactors at Sweden's largest nuclear power plant.

Video said to show attack on U.S.

Al-Qaida posted a video Friday showing what it claimed to be an insurgent attack on U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, in an apparent attempt to disparage U.S. claims of winning the war against the Taliban. The 24-minute video argues that the Afghan people support the insurgents and assist their attacks on U.S.-Afghan forces, and it comes as the United States and Britain are deploying more troops to the country after the worst year of insurgency-related violence since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001.

92-year postal trek? No big deal

A British soldier's postcard to his sweetheart finally arrived - 92 years after he sent it from the trenches of World War I. Pvt. Walter Butler wrote to Amy Hicks in 1915 telling her he was alive and well, but the postcard never made it to her home in Wiltshire, 60 miles west of London. Butler survived the war, and the couple married. The postcard turned up in a postal sorting office, which sent it along last week to the post office near Hicks' address. A postman called the couple's daughter, Joyce Hulbert, to announce the discovery. Hulbert, 86, said that her late parents rarely discussed the war, and that the relic of the past had little meaning for her. She wondered what all the fuss was about. "There's lots more interesting things going on than a postcard arriving 92 years late."

Elsewhere

BELARUS: Ten Americans left Belarus after authorities ordered them deported for allegedly singing religious songs and reading spiritual literature, in violation of laws restricting religious activity in the former Soviet republic. The Americans, who arrived Feb. 5, "preferred to leave Belarus voluntarily" after authorities decided they should be deported, said an Interior Ministry spokesman.

[Last modified February 17, 2007, 00:44:09]