Fugitive Turkish al-Qaida convict arrested working as imam

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish media reports say a fugitive who was convicted in absentia for involvement in a 2003 bomb attack against HSBC bank in Istanbul and of membership in al-Qaida has been arrested.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the man, identified by his initials Z.C., was arrested Wednesday in a village in the central Turkish province of Cankiri, where he was working as an acting village imam.

The private DHA agency reported that he had escaped to Afghanistan while on trial for his role in the attack. He was later convicted of membership in the al-Qaida network and sentenced to six years in prison.

The al-Qaida attacks in Istanbul in November 2003 targeted the HSBC bank, two synagogues and the British Consulate, killing 57 people.