By KUNA
Istanbul : A Turkish court has ordered imprisonment of 24 persons suspected of having links with the outlawed Al-Qaeda organization, the local news network, NTV, reported on Saturday.
The detainees were nabbed earlier this week in several cities and towns as a result of intelligence information gathered about their suspicious activities, the network said.
Turkish police, for months, have been involved in a wide-scale operation targeting Al-Qaeda fugitives. A least five people including a police officer have been killed in the hunt.
The shadowy organization, in 2003, said it was responsible for bombing attacks that targeted the British consulate, two Jewish synagogues and a bank in the tourist city of Istanbul. The explosions had taken the lives of more than 60 people.
Judicial authorities, in February 2007, sentenced to life behind bars seven suspected Al-Qaeda activists including a Syrian national, who was suspected of being the engineer and financier of the deadly bomb attacks.