Louai Sakka

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]

Louai Sakka
Born	1972 (age 52–53) Aleppo, Syria
Nationality	Syrian
Known for	suspected of being a terrorist bomber

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]

“Turkish [military] vehicles carry CIA agents in Afghanistan. The public should understand this fact. I’d like to warn [Turkish] soldiers about the disaster they could be faced with if they continue their activities. The Turkish military has been implicated in activities for which resister [Islam] combatants will never forgive them. I am calling the Turkish public as a friend. Save your children from Afghanistan.”^[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]