Last weekend's deadly synagogue attacks in Istanbul were carried out by two Turkish suicide bombers and Turkish accomplices with al Qaeda sympathies, Turkey's foreign minister said.  

"Two Turks carried out the suicide attacks, but there were other Turks involved, too," Abdullah Gul told The Associated Press by telephone from Stockholm, Sweden.

"It will be determined whether these people worked directly with al Qaeda or are just sympathizers. The first impression is that these people seemed to have the same mindset of al Qaeda, they have the same concept, they are from the same school."

Gul's comments came as funerals were being held for the six Jewish victims of Saturday's bombings.

Seven Muslim victims were buried Monday, when hundreds of people marched to one of the synagogues to protest the terrorist attacks.

Gul said Tuesday that two Turkish terrorists launched the almost-simultaneous suicide attacks outside the Neve Shalom and Beth Israel synagogues about three kilometers (about 1.9 miles) apart.

The death toll from the bombings rose to 25, including the two bombers, on Tuesday when one of the 300 people wounded died overnight.

"Two Turks carried out the suicide attacks but there were other Turks involved too," Gul told the AP.

On Tuesday Turkish media published photos of four foreign-trained Turkish Islamic militants it said was involved in the attacks.

But police said they would await the results of the DNA tests before announcing whether the four were suspects or not.

Earlier, Gul said a link had been established between the bombings and an organization based in Afghanistan.

"There is a link with an organization in Afghanistan in terms of belief and understanding," said Abdullah Gul.

The foreign minister said DNA tests on skin particles from the scene would have to be completed to verify the connection "100 percent."

Police have questioned two Turkish owners of two vans used to carry explosives in the bombing of the synagogues. The owners have denied any involvement in the bombings and said they had family members who were missing.

Two claims of responsibility for the bombings have been made on behalf of al Qaeda, many of whose operatives are thought to be hiding in Afghanistan.

The London-based Arabic newspaper al Quds al Arabiya said it received claims of responsibility from the Abu Hafs al Masri Brigade, which claims to be affiliated with al Qaeda.

The second claim was received by the Saudi-owned magazine Al Majalah. In it, Abu Mohamed al Ablaj -- who claims to be an al Qaeda leader -- took responsibility for the attacks.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the bombings "certainly (have) all the fingerprints that we would expect of an al Qaeda operation."

But he added that the State Department also did not have enough information to connect the attacks with bin Laden's network, AP reported.

Israeli Knesset President Reuven Rivlin, in Istanbul for the funerals, also said there was information linking the bombing to al Qaeda. Israel has been helping Turkey track down the attackers.

"We have found out that we are talking about the al Qaeda and those terrorists who exploded themselves as suicide bombers were coming from Persia, and I understand that they have been taught there, they had training there," Rivlin said.

Tuesday's funerals for the six Turkish Jews killed in the attacks were held at a Jewish cemetery in the affluent hillside Ulus neighborhood.

The caskets were each draped with Turkey's red flag emblazoned with a white crescent and star, and topped with a tall, white candle.

As the names of the victims were read aloud, a gentle rain turned into a downpour, mixing with the tears of the hundreds of mourners.

Scores of police stood guard outside the cemetery's heavy gates and concrete walls, and sharpshooters were perched on rooftops and balconies across from the cemetery.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2003)