A suicide bomber who killed himself and 10 German tourists in Istanbul's historic heart had registered with Turkish immigration authorities but was not on any list of known militant suspects, Turkey's interior minister said on Wednesday, January 13, Reuters reports.
The bomber, who authorities say is an Islamic State member recently arrived from Syria, blew himself up on Tuesday in Sultanahmet square near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, major tourist sites in one of the world's most visited cities.
Asked about a report in the Turkish media that the bomber had registered at an immigration office in Istanbul a week ago, Interior Minister Efkan Ala confirmed that the man's fingerprints were on record with the Turkish authorities.
"Your assessment that his fingerprints were taken and there is a record of him is correct. But he was not on the wanted individuals list. And neither is he on the target individuals list sent to us by other countries," Ala told a joint news conference with his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere.
The Haberturk newspaper published what it said was a CCTV image of the bomber, named in some local media as Saudi-born Nabil Fadli, at an Istanbul immigration office on Jan. 5.
It said he was identified by a sample of a finger taken from the blast site.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Tuesday the bomber had been identified from body parts at the scene. He was born in 1988 and was thought to have been living in Syria, from where he was believed to have recently entered Turkey.
Ten Germans were killed in the bombing, a spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry said, raising the death toll among Germans from 9 previously. Five more are in intensive care.
