Louai Sakka Explained

Louai Sakka
Birth Place:	Aleppo, Syria
Nationality:	Syrian
Known For:	suspected of being a terrorist bomber

Louai Sakka (born 1972) is a Syrian of Turkish background, who was convicted in Turkey of playing a role in several terrorist bombings.^[1] His first conviction was overturned on appeal, and he is currently being re-tried.^[2]

Early life

Sakka is the son of a wealthy factory owner in Aleppo, Syria.^[1]

Alleged jihadist career

According to The Washington Post, Sakka was suspected of playing a role in a plot to bomb hotels in Amman, Jordan, on 31 December 1999.^[1] They reported he was the planner of the truck bomb attacks that killed 57 in Istanbul in 2003; that he was a trusted associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and had led foreign fighters during the battle of Fallujah; and that he aided other fighters in their travels, with funding and false passports. He was captured in Antalya when a bomb exploded in his apartment on 4 August 2005.

The Washington Post reported that Turkish security officials asserted he had acknowledged that he had been constructing the bomb, which he intended to use as a suicide bomb when he guided a yacht into a cruise ship that had American GIs.^[1]

Sakka was represented by Osman Karakan.^[3] Karakan said that Sakka had willingly acknowledged his jihadist activities, and remained committed to jihadism—but was nevertheless refusing to sign a confession.^[1]

Sakka is believed to have undergone plastic surgery in order to hide from security officials.^{[1] [4]}

The Washington Post reported that he drank alcohol, and hung out with unmarried women, in order to mask the fact that he was a fundamentalist. Today's Zaman reported Sakka had warned Turkish troops in Afghanistan that they could be faced with “disaster”.^[5]

On February 7, 2012, investigators from the United Nations interviewed Sakka, interested in whether he had played a role in the assassination of Lebanon's Prime Minister Refik Hariri.^[6]

On 21 March 2012, the judge in Sakka's case barred him from the courtroom, because he was wearing an orange jumpsuit, similar to those made infamous for being issued to Guantanamo captives.^[2]

Notes and References

1. News: A Bomb-Builder, 'Out of the Shadows': Syrian Linked to Al Qaeda Plots Describes Plan to Attack Cruise Ship in Turkey . . Karl Vick . 2006-02-20 . 2013-07-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130728074406/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/19/AR2006021901336_pf.html . live . His real identity began to emerge shortly after 3 a.m. on Aug. 4, when the windows of Apt. 1703 blew out, showering the parking lot with the contents of the kitchen and bits and pieces of the massive bomb Sakka had been painstakingly assembling in the living room. Sakka, who escaped the inferno only to be arrested two days later, turned out to be a senior operative for al Qaeda and intimately linked to major terrorist plots in Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, where he had worked beside Abu Musab Zarqawi, a longtime confederate..
2. News: Louai Sakka arrives at hearing in orange "Guantanamo" jumpsuit. Hurriyet. 2012-03-21. 2012-08-06. Louai Sakka, who is being tried for a life sentence in Turkey for alleged high level involvement in the Al Queda terror group, came to court yesterday in Istanbul dressed in an orange jumpsuit like the ones worn by Guantanamo Bay prisoners, but was not allowed into the courtroom by the judge..
3. News: Lawyer who defended suspected al Qaeda militants in Turkey killed in Aleppo. Long War Journal. Bill Roggio. Bill Roggio. 2012-08-06. 2012-08-06. Karahan had defended numerous al Qaeda suspects in Turkey, most notably Loua'i Sakka, a Turkish-speaking Syrian thought to be the planner of the November 2003 truck bombings in Istanbul. Those bombings killed some 60 people in Istanbul during twin simultaneous attacks on two synagogues, an HSBC branch, and the British Consulate..
4. News: In Turkey, a bomb-builder 'out of the shadows'. Bangor Daily News. Karl Vick. 2006-02-24. 75. 2012-08-06.
5. News: Al-Qaeda suspect threatens Turkish troops in Afghanistan. Today's Zaman. 2010-02-13. 2012-08-06. 2016-03-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060122/http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=201422. dead. Louai Sakka, who is standing trial on charges of participating in bombings around Istanbul in November 2003 and is accused of being a top al-Qaeda official, threatened Turkish troops in Afghanistan during yesterday’s hearing, saying Turkey should be prepared against any attack on its troops in that country..
6. News: United Nations commission in Istanbul to investigate Louai Sakka. Hurriyet. 2012-02-07. 2012-08-06. Two members of the United Nations International Investigative Commission are in Istanbul to research possible links between top Al Qaeda operative Louai Sakka and the assassination two years ago of former Lebanese prime minister Refik Hariri..