Leader of Al-Qaeda's Turkish division to unveil true face of the terrorist network

A Syrian citizen Lu'ai Sakra referred to as the leader of the Turkish division of al-Qaeda promised to make a sensational declaration at the trial about the structure and the actions of the international terrorist organization headed by Osama bin Laden. Sakra made this statement during the interrogation at the Istanbul Security Directorate, Turkish newspaper Zaman reports.

"If Sakra tells everything, which he said to us, at the trial, the true face of al-Qaeda will be unveiled," Zaman quotes the representative of the Turkish Security Services. "Al-Qaeda's structure resembles special service rather than terrorist organization," he said.

A Syrian who is suspected of being responsible for the terror acts in Istanbul in November 2003 (when 61 people were killed and more than 600 were injured) was arrested in the town of Diyarbakyr last week. Meantime 16 people who were planning to bomb the cruise liner near Antaliya resort under the direction of Sakra were arrested in Turkey.

The militants prepared about one ton of explosives for this terror act. Sakra is put into prison under the order of Istanbul Court. He is charged with participating in terrorist activity and membership in illegal organization, which means life imprisonment if he is convicted. The Syrian militant claims that Bin Laden is not the only one who controls the situation in al-Qaeda. "It does not have the structure of the terrorist organization. It consists of groups that perform operations on behalf of the whole network," Sakra said at the investigation. He gave an example of "the second attack of London in July." Sakra claimed that "he himself was sending dozens of people to the US, England, Egypt, Syria and Algeria to accomplish the acts of violence."

The militant also said that he had fought against the Americans in the town of Fallujah in Iraq together with the leader of Iraqi al-Qaeda Abu Musab az-Zarkawi.

"Ten Americans were kept in a house in Fallujah, where we were hiding. I killed them with my own hands," Sakra claimed.

According to Sakra's statements az-Zarkawi is hiding in the northern part of Iraq at the moment, RIA Novosti reports.

The statements made by Sakra prove the fears expressed by experts: it is wrong to regard al-Qaeda as a single organization with the central governing body. In fact it is a brand, which militants use owing to its worldwide reputation. As a result it becomes more and more difficult to fight against terrorism. Dozens of small terrorist group appear instead of one large organization. These groups are as dangerous as the big one and are much harder to locate.