Loai al-Saqa

A Syrian member of al-Qaeda, Loa'i Mohammad Haj Bakr al-Saqa ( _ar. لؤي محمد حج بكر الصقا) was convicted of masterminding and financing the 2003 Istanbul bombings, and in February 2007, was sentenced to life imprisonment without any chance of parole by the Turkish courts. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6370117.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Seven jailed for Turkey bombings ] ]

He was arrested in August 2005, while allegedly planning a bomb attack against an Israeli cruise ship [ [http://www.e-turchia.com/Arretrati/Turchia_Oggi_arretrati_2005_12_21_n36.htm Turchia Oggi: Arretrato anno 6 numero 36 ] ] He was accused of supplying Turkish militants $170,000 to perform the bombing. [http://www.mre.gov.br/portugues/noticiario/nacional/selecao_detalhe.asp?ID_RESENHA=310236]

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 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4824456.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Turkey bomb 'linchpin' on trial ] ] and again two months later for wearing an orange jumpsuit similar to those worn by prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5006728.stm
date=Monday, May 22 2006
publisher=BBC
title=Judge bars 'Guantanamo jumpsuit']

During his trial, al-Saqa was questioned by prosecutor Huseyin Canan about the beheading of British engineer Kenneth Bigley in Iraq. [ [http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-13563414,00.html Suspect Quizzed On Bigley Beheading |Sky News|World News ] ]

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