Loai Mohammad Haj Bakr al-Saqa ( ar, لؤي محمد حج بكر الصقا) is a Syrian member of
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
, convicted of masterminding and financing the
2003 Istanbul bombings
The 2003 Istanbul bombings were a series of suicide attacks carried out with trucks fitted with bombs detonated at four different locations in Istanbul, Turkey on November 15 and 20, 2003.
On November 15, two truck bombs were detonated, one in ...
. In February 2007, he was sentenced to 67
life sentences by the Turkish courts.
He was arrested in August 2005, while allegedly planning a bomb attack against an
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
. He was accused of supplying Turkish militants $170,000 to perform the bombing.
Unlike some of the six Turkish men also given life sentences for the attacks, al-Saqa maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
Al-Saqa's lawyer was banned from the court for "aiding and abetting al-Qaeda", and al-Saqa was twice thrown out of the court himself, once at his first court appearance in March 2006 for refusing to stand and identify himself to the judge and again two months later for wearing an orange jumpsuit similar to
those worn by prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.
[
]
During his trial, al-Saqa was questioned by prosecutor Huseyin Canan about the beheading of British engineer
Kenneth Bigley
Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byn ...
in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
.
Suspect Quizzed On Bigley Beheading , Sky News, World News
/ref>
References
Syrian al-Qaeda members
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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