ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Suspected al-Qaida suicide bombers
blew up trucks packed with explosives at the British consulate and
a London-based bank yesterday, killing at least 27 people and
wounding nearly 450. The twin attacks coincided with President
Bush’s state visit to Britain.

The blasts, just minutes apart, were the worst terrorist
bombings in this Muslim nation’s history, and marked the
second attacks in Turkey to be blamed on al-Qaida this week. On
Saturday, bombers struck two Istanbul synagogues, killing 23
people.

Turkey’s security forces were put on highest alert, and
the army briefly deployed soldiers in the streets. Arab and other
world leaders were swift to condemn the bombings in Turkey,
NATO’s only Muslim member and a close ally of the United
States and Israel.

British Consul-General Roger Short and his personal assistant,
Lisa Hallworth, were among the dead.

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, who rushed to Istanbul,
said he was aware of 13 deaths at the consulate, including one
other Briton. Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler put the total at 16.

“Once again we are reminded of the evil these terrorists
pose to people everywhere and to our way of life,” Prime
Minister Tony Blair said in London, with President Bush by his
side. “There must be no holding back, no compromise, no
hesitation in confronting this menace.”

Bush said the bombing showed “utter contempt for innocent
life.”

“The terrorists hope to intimidate, they hope to
demoralize. They are not going to succeed,” the president
said. U.S. and Turkish officials said the bombings bore the marks
of an al-Qaida operation, with near-simultaneous timing and the use
of fertilizer-based explosives.

The first pickup truck exploded outside the Turkish headquarters
of HSBC, the world’s second-largest bank, shearing off the
white facade of the 18-story building and exposing the gray
concrete beneath. Windows were blown out and scraps of white
ceiling material dangled, caught on torn electrical wires swaying
in the breeze.

About 10 minutes later, a second truck crashed through the gate
of the British consulate five miles away in Beyoglu, a historic
district popular with tourists. The vehicle looked like a food
delivery truck with the explosives in large metal food containers,
the Anatolia news agency reported.

The blast destroyed annexes to the main building and tore apart
a wall surrounding the consulate’s garden.