Warning Of More Bombings

Updated:04:59, Friday November 21, 2003

Further attacks may be attempted in Turkey where at least 27 people have been killed and an estimated 450 wounded in two massive bomb blasts, the Foreign Office has said.

The blasts ripped through the British consulate in Istanbul and the city's HSBC headquarters.

The warnings of more attacks came after British foreign secretary Jack Straw blamed the blasts on Osama bin Laden's terror network al Qaeda.

At least four Britons were among the victims, included the British-Consul general Roger Short.

Turkey's premier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, vowed to "avenge" the attacks but also called for public calm.

The blasts, which are believed to have been carried out by suicide bombers in two vans, are being seen as an attack on British interests - HSBC is London-based and British-owned.

The 23-storey bank building was left in ruins, its windows blown out.

TV pictures showed bodies and body parts scattered outside the charred building.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said vans packed with explosives were used in the strikes.

A caller to the Anatolia news agency said al Qaeda and the militant Islamic Great Eastern Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, were jointly behind the attacks.

'No holding back'

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw arrived at the ruins of the British consulate on Thursday evening and declared: "This is an atrocity against all our civilisations".

The United Nations Security Council also passed a resolution condemning the bombings.

It follows a double strike in the city at the weekend on two synagogues, leaving 23 dead.

Rev Sherwood told Sky News the blasts had been carried out by "the most evil, pernicious, diabolical manifestation of human life".

Tony Blair, standing beside George Bush at the Foreign Office, said there would be British victims in the blasts.

He said there "would be no holding back" in the war on terror until it was "defeated utterly" and no pause in the campaign in Iraq.

Mr Bush said the US "would not bow" to attempts to "intimidate or demoralise" the West.

TV pictures showed scenes of devastation outside the bank, a plush modern building in an affluent area of Istanbul.

Windows were blown out, cars destroyed and turned over and rubble scattered across streets.

Smoke filled the air and passers-by scrabbled among the wreckage for signs of life.

Many walking wounded staggered around the blast scene in a stunned state.

Protection 'poor'

Earlier reports suggested there had been up to five explosions but Turkish officials said there had only been two.

Sky News Online reader Oliver Sheehan said the consulate, "off the Oxford Street of Istanbul", was not as well protected as the nearby US consulate and had a taxi rank outside it which could be used to launch a bombing.

The Foreign Office and HSBC could not say how many staff worked in each building.

A HSBC statement said: "It is with deep regret that we have to confirm that there have been a number of fatalities.
Our thoughts are with the bereaved, the injured and their families.

"We are extremely concerned for the safety of our staff."

The British consulate was targeted in April when an explosive device was hurled at the building.

British businesses in Istanbul are now on full alert and American firm Citibank has closed all its branches in Turkey.

The United States said it had closed its consulate in Istanbul to the public and advised US citizens to avoid the building "as a precaution".

Britons have been warned only to travel to Turkey for essential business.

British Airways cancelled a flight from Heathrow to Istanbul but later rescheduled it.

"We are considering the situation,"a BA spokesman said.

The Foreign Office has issued a number for those concerned about friends and relatives.

They should call 0207 0080000