Burqa-clad Turkish 'suicide bomber' turns out to be lover in disguise

ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse

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A Turkish man detained as a suspected would-be suicide bomber in northern Turkey was actually wearing a burqa to disguise himself to meet a secret lover from a dating site, local media reported Nov. 8.

Locals in the Black Sea province of Ordu alerted police of a "would-be suicide bomber" on Nov. 7 after noticing that a burqa-clad "woman" talking on the phone at a bus stop was wearing men's shoes, Dogan news agency said.    

A police team arrived at the scene and "unmasked" the man, who was dressed in a full-length, Islamic-style black robe with a niqab -- the head covering worn by many Muslim women -- covering his face. Authorities detained him for "inflicting fear and panic in the public," Dogan reported.
 
The 33-year-old man, who is married with two children, told police that he had resorted to the burqa disguise in order to secretly meet a woman he had met on an online dating site for the first time.    

Turkey is on high alert after a series of deadly attacks blamed on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group, including a massive twin suicide bombing at a peace rally in Ankara on Oct. 10 that killed 102 people in the worst-ever terror attack in Turkey's history.