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Tone of Defiance Coming Out of British, Turks Against Terrorists

Aired November 20, 2003 - 11:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, terrorists in Turkey. Two or more explosions ripped through British targets this morning in Istanbul. The latest count shows 26 killed, 450 injured. A prominent British diplomat is among the dead. A caller claims al Qaeda is responsible.
CNN correspondent Paula Hancocks joins us live in Istanbul where it is now early evening -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. I'm standing outside the HSBC building here in the heart of the financial district. This is where one of the bombs took place.

And if I just step to con side, you can see exactly what the damage is to this building. This was a building which had about 1,000 employees in it at the time of the blast. Not just HSBC people, other companies as well. But the bank has come out and said that all branches will be open tomorrow in defiance of this attack, saying they will not be moved from Turkey.

Now this happened about 10:00 this morning local time. The front of this building used to be white marble and blue glass. You can see exactly what it is now.

Just in front, you can see some policemen keeping people out. There's a lot of people working, trying to find evidence, trying to find any sort of piece of evidence that could give some indication on exactly who carried out this bomb threat.

And then, of course, there was the one at the British consulate as well, that you mentioned, Carol, just down the road from us here.

The significant thing about these two spots in Istanbul is they're extremely busy spots. The road that I'm standing on at moment would have been extremely busy at the time. In fact, many victims were just driving past on the road in their cars at the time. Those burnt-out cars still behind me at the moment as people try and look for evidence.

And it's a very narrow street in front of the British consulate, as well. A lot of bars, a lot of pubs and restaurants and shops. A shopping mall just down the road from here as well.

So they were really targeting areas that were well populated -- Carol. LIN: Paula, since the double attacks on synagogues last week, was there not more beefed-up security at what might have been likely targets there?

HANCOCKS: Well, I think everyone was taken by surprise that -- they were taken by surprise by the Saturday attack. But the fact that this was so soon afterwards, just opening up old wounds.

There was some security around the British consulate. I'm being told there was a wall in front of that street. But it was such a narrow street that it was very difficult to have very much security at all. And of course, there would have been a lot of people milling around at the time as well.

We are hearing reports that the U.K. foreign minister, Jack Straw, is thinking about coming to Istanbul, or is on his way to Istanbul in Turkey. But we have no confirmation of that from the foreign ministry.

Also we had the mayor of Istanbul driving past a little bit earlier on. So officials really are rallying around.

We had the prime minister as well from Turkey giving a speech a little earlier on saying he wanted public calm. He said they will find who was responsible for these attacks. And this has thrown Turkish stability and peace.

So there was really some protection around the British consulate. But of course, it is very difficult in such a narrow street to have any sort of big fortification -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Paula Hancocks reporting live from Istanbul.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Terrorists>


Aired November 20, 2003 - 11:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, terrorists in Turkey. Two or more explosions ripped through British targets this morning in Istanbul. The latest count shows 26 killed, 450 injured. A prominent British diplomat is among the dead. A caller claims al Qaeda is responsible.
CNN correspondent Paula Hancocks joins us live in Istanbul where it is now early evening -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. I'm standing outside the HSBC building here in the heart of the financial district. This is where one of the bombs took place.

And if I just step to con side, you can see exactly what the damage is to this building. This was a building which had about 1,000 employees in it at the time of the blast. Not just HSBC people, other companies as well. But the bank has come out and said that all branches will be open tomorrow in defiance of this attack, saying they will not be moved from Turkey.

Now this happened about 10:00 this morning local time. The front of this building used to be white marble and blue glass. You can see exactly what it is now.

Just in front, you can see some policemen keeping people out. There's a lot of people working, trying to find evidence, trying to find any sort of piece of evidence that could give some indication on exactly who carried out this bomb threat.

And then, of course, there was the one at the British consulate as well, that you mentioned, Carol, just down the road from us here.

The significant thing about these two spots in Istanbul is they're extremely busy spots. The road that I'm standing on at moment would have been extremely busy at the time. In fact, many victims were just driving past on the road in their cars at the time. Those burnt-out cars still behind me at the moment as people try and look for evidence.

And it's a very narrow street in front of the British consulate, as well. A lot of bars, a lot of pubs and restaurants and shops. A shopping mall just down the road from here as well.

So they were really targeting areas that were well populated -- Carol. LIN: Paula, since the double attacks on synagogues last week, was there not more beefed-up security at what might have been likely targets there?

HANCOCKS: Well, I think everyone was taken by surprise that -- they were taken by surprise by the Saturday attack. But the fact that this was so soon afterwards, just opening up old wounds.

There was some security around the British consulate. I'm being told there was a wall in front of that street. But it was such a narrow street that it was very difficult to have very much security at all. And of course, there would have been a lot of people milling around at the time as well.

We are hearing reports that the U.K. foreign minister, Jack Straw, is thinking about coming to Istanbul, or is on his way to Istanbul in Turkey. But we have no confirmation of that from the foreign ministry.

Also we had the mayor of Istanbul driving past a little bit earlier on. So officials really are rallying around.

We had the prime minister as well from Turkey giving a speech a little earlier on saying he wanted public calm. He said they will find who was responsible for these attacks. And this has thrown Turkish stability and peace.

So there was really some protection around the British consulate. But of course, it is very difficult in such a narrow street to have any sort of big fortification -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. Paula Hancocks reporting live from Istanbul.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Terrorists>