TURKEY: Wife of suicide bomber told journalists how she was proud of her husband and believes he is unlikely to have been an agent

Record ID: 356753

  • Title: TURKEY: Wife of suicide bomber told journalists how she was proud of her husband and believes he is unlikely to have been an agent
  • Date: 8th January 2010
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JANUARY 07, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WIFE OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER, DEFNE BAYRAK IN PRESS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) WIFE OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER, DEFNE BAYRAK SAYING: "I think it's impossible that he was an American agent. He was too adversary to work for America. He only could have used America and Jordan to reach his goals." VARIOUS
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA3HEUVDQC7JOJCXM8XRINLV940
  • Story Text: The wife of a double agent who killed seven CIA officers in a suicide attack in Afghanistan said she thought her husband was in Afghanistan to pursue his medical studies and that she was shocked at the news of his death.
    Defne Bayrak, the Turkish wife of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, told Turkish media she learned that her husband had blown himself up at a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Dec. 30 after receiving a phone call from one of his friends in Pakistan.
    Bayrak, who lives in Istanbul, said her husband had told her 10 days ago that he planned to return to Turkey. She doubted he was working for the CIA or that he was a member of al-Qaeda.
    Al-Qaeda's Afghan wing has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing -- the second-most deadly attack in CIA history -- saying it was revenge for the deaths of their leaders.
    Former intelligence officials have said Balawi, a doctor, was recruited by Jordanian intelligence to try to infiltrate al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
    Balawi had associated with Islamists in the past, but U.S. and Jordanian spy agencies thought that Balawi had been successfully "de-radicalised".
    "I am proud of my husband. He has carried out a very important operation in such a war" Bayrak added.
    She met her husband, a Jordanian, while he was studying medicine at Istanbul University. They lived in Jordan, where they had two daughters, before moving back to Turkey in October 2009.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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