Blasts strike British targets

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Trucks packed with explosives blew up near the high-rise headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank and the British consulate, killing at least 25 people and wounding nearly 400, officials said.
The bombings, which occurred five minutes apart at about 11 a.m. today, came days after two synagogue suicide bombings and coincided with the visit of President Bush to London. Al-Qaida was blamed for the blasts.
"We see their utter contempt for innocent life. The terrorists hope to intimidate; they hope to demoralize. They are not going to succeed," Bush said at a news conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described the attacks as "clearly appalling acts of terrorism," and he suggested a link to the Al-Qaida network.
"I'm afraid it has all the hallmarks of international terrorism practiced by Al-Qaida," he said in London.
A man calling the semiofficial Anatolia news agency said that Al-Qaida and the militant Islamic Great Eastern Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, jointly claimed responsibility for attacks.
Synagogue bombing link
Turkish authorities said the same groups were behind Saturday's nearly simultaneous synagogue bombings in Istanbul, which killed 23 people and the two attackers.
"It seems the attacks have been conducted with the same barbaric methods," Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, who serves as government spokesman, told reporters.
The Turkish press reported that the attacks were carried out by suicide bombers, but the governor's office said only that attackers blew up explosive-laden pickup trucks.
At the scene
The first blast was at the Turkish headquarters of HSBC, the world's second-largest bank, shearing off the fa & ccedil;ade of the 18-floor building and shattering the windows of nearby skyscrapers.
Body parts, the charred shells of cars and broken glass were scattered around a 9-foot-deep crater that was carved in the streets outside the bank. Water gushed out of the top floors of the building like a faucet.
Bystanders bloodied and covered in dust looked dazed as they walked past lines of ambulances. Several people helped carry the limp bodies of victims.
Another bomb ripped off the wall surrounding the garden of the British consulate in the downtown Beyoglu district.
At least 25 people were killed and 390 wounded, Istanbul's Health Department reported. Television reports initially said up to five blasts, but Turkish authorities later confirmed only two.
Straw said three or four British employees from the consulate had not reported to a roll call after the blasts. British consul-general Roger Short was missing, the private NTV news channel said.
"Once again, we are reminded of the evil these terrorists pose to people everywhere and to our way of life," Blair said. "Once again, we must affirm that in the face of this terrorism there must be no holding back, no compromise, no hesitation in confronting this menace, in attacking it wherever and whenever we can and in defeating it utterly."
Blair also reaffirmed his commitment to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
"It should not lessen ... our commitment to Iraq," he said. "On the contrary, it shows how important it is to carry on until terrorism is defeated there as well."
Witness accounts
One witness was traveling on a bus near HSBC when the explosion occurred.
"I thought somebody hit our bus from the back; then, I saw black smoke rising. Cars were damaged all around us. I saw the charred body of a driver at the wheel," said a sobbing Mehmet Altan.
"After the blast, the bus doors got stuck, and passengers broke the windows to get out. There were pieces of flesh spread all around," bus driver Necati Erkek said.
Another witness, Hakan Kozan, 29, who was close to the British consulate at the time of the explosion, said a white pickup truck was responsible for the blast.
"I heard a slam on the brakes, and 10 seconds later, the explosion came," Kozan told The Associated Press.
Mehmet Celik, who was slightly injured in the attack, said a light brown pickup truck "exploded in front of the HSBC headquarters."
Suleyman Karatas, an HSBC staffer, said there was "a bloodbath after the explosion," according to the Anatolia news agency. He said a number of 600 staffers of the bank were wounded.
Impact elsewhere
Trading on the Turkish stock market was suspended. Some businesses, including the leading Yapi Kredi bank near HSBC and an IBM office near the British consulate, halted operations today after the explosions, CNN-Turk said.
The British consulate is located in the cramped historic Beyoglu district, a popular tourist destination with shops, bars, movie theaters and restaurants.
The nearby U.S. consulate was moved months ago to a new, more secure location in another district.
White House spokesman Sean McCormack said, "We're monitoring the situation in the wake of these apparent terrorist attacks."
Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said the attacks targeted British-related institutions and appeared linked to Saturday's synagogue suicide bombings.
Arrests in previous blasts
On Wednesday, authorities arrested six people in connection with the synagogue bombings. A Turkish court charged five with "attempting to overthrow the constitutional structure," which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. A sixth person was charged with "helping illegal organizations," punishable by five years in prison, Anatolia said.
No trial date has been set.
Two suicide attackers, both Turks, blew up pickup trucks outside the synagogues on the Jewish Sabbath, killing 23 people and the two bombers. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the two had visited Afghanistan in the past and that investigators were looking for any Al-Qaida links.
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