Turkish police arrest suspected Reina attack planner

BURDUR, Turkey

A Turkish-French national accused of involvement in planning the Reina nightclub attack in Istanbul was arrested by Turkish police on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old male, identified only by the initials A.S., was detained in Istanbul. He had been wanted on two arrest warrants, one issued by an Istanbul court and one by a court in Burdur, southwestern Turkey.

He was sought as part of an investigation into the Daesh terror group blamed for the deadly attack on the Istanbul nightspot which claimed 39 lives in the early hours of New Year’s Eve.

Police sources said the suspect was detained in possession of a rental lease which belonged to an apartment on the outskirts of Istanbul where the main suspect in the nightclub attack, Uzbek citizen Abdulgadir Masharipov, was arrested last month.

Masharipov is currently facing charges of Daesh membership, premeditated murder, trying to overturn the constitutional order and possessing weapons.

In a statement, Burdur Chief Public Prosecutor Sadi Dogan said the file on the Turkish-French suspect -- who is registered as living in the southern coastal city of Antalya -- would be sent to Istanbul.

Last week, nine suspects -- mainly foreign nationals -- who were also detained over suspected links to the nightclub shooting, were remanded in custody to face trial by an Istanbul court.

Reporting by Murat Yolcu; Writing by Esra Kaymak