Syrian Gunman Killed in Istanbul (Turkey) after Wounding Two

[Turborama]

Source: International Business Times

By Gianluca Mezzofiore | November 30, 2011 12:02 PM GMT

It came as Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced a series of economic sanctions against Syria due to its military clampdown on the insurgent population.

The man, who has been identified as a 36 year old Libyan with a vehicle that had a Syrian licence plate, threatened the soldier on duty at the Topkapi Palace, the former residence of the Ottoman sultans. Witnesses quoted by Turkey's NTV television said they heard the gunman shouting that he was Syrian.

Then, he seized the soldier's arm and started shooting. He wounded a security guard and a policeman. He was killed by security forces after an hour long gunfight.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Davutoglu announced that Turkey, once a close friend of Damascus, will stop delivering all weapons and military equipment to Syria in a new attempt to convince President Bashar al-Assad to end the crackdown on pro-reform protesters, who have been taking the streets for eight months.

Read more: http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/258589/20111130/syrian-gunman-killed-istanbul-wounding.htm

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HuffPo are reporting that he was a Libyan with Syrian citizenship: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/30/turkey-topkapi-palace-shooting_n_1120195.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. Interesting.

[Schema Thing]

2. we have nutjobs, they have nutjobs.

we are they and they are us

[pampango]

3. WaPo: Gunman shot dead at Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace after he wounds 2 people

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/turkish-media-say-gunman-opens-fire-near-istanbuls-blue-mosque-wounds-2/2011/11/30/gIQA89DfBO_story.html

A heavily armed man opened fire at one of Istanbul’s main tourist attractions on Wednesday, wounding a Turkish soldier and a security guard before police snipers killed the attacker, officials said. The motive for the assault at Topkapi Palace was not immediately known. But police said the man, a Libyan with Syrian citizenship, had entered Turkey only three days ago.

A heavily armed gunman walks inside the courtyard of Ottoman-era Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. A heavily armed gunman wounded a soldier and a security guard at the entrance of Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace before being shot dead Wednesday, witnesses said.

Police said the attacker arrived at the palace in a car with Syrian license plates. Minutes before the attack, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had announced tough economic sanctions on Syria to protest its government’s crackdown on an 8-month-old pro-democracy uprising.

Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said the attacker had entered Turkey on Sunday. The state-run TRT television, citing unnamed officials, identified him as 36-year-old Samir Salem Ali Elmadhavri, a Libyan with Syrian citizenship. A spokesman for Libya’s National Transition Council, Jalal el-Galal, said authorities in Tripoli have no information at this point on the gunman.

[alp227]

4. Libyan gunman in Istanbul wounds two before being shot dead

Source: The Guardian

A heavily armed Libyan man has wounded a soldier and a security guard at the entrance of Istanbul's Topkapi Palace before being shot dead, according to witnesses.

Multiple gunshots were reportedly heard on Wednesday morning from behind the high walls of the palace.

Police anti-terror squad officers shot dead the attacker, said Istanbul's police chief, Hüseyin Çapkin. Turkey's interior minister Idris Naim Sahin said the gunman was a 35-year-old Libyan national who entered Turkey on Sunday.

A picture by IHA news agency showed the man carrying at least two rifles and a cartridge belt around his neck. It shows the man wearing a black overcoat and cap and carrying a backpack.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/30/istanbul-gunman-wounds-shot-dead