A group claiming links to al-Qaeda has said it was behind bomb attacks that rocked two hotels and a gas depot in Istanbul this morning.
"The Mujahideen from the Abu Hafs (al-Masri) Brigades carried out the first in a series of operations which will be launched against European countries after they all rejected the truce offered by our sheikh (Osama bin Laden)," the statement on an Islamist website said.