Turks Send Out Fingerprints of Temple Killers

Police on Tuesday distributed fingerprints and composite drawings of the two terrorists who killed 21 Jewish worshipers in a blaze of gunfire at the Neve Shalom Synagogue.

The two blew themselves up with hand grenades after the attack on Saturday.

Interior Minister Yildirum Akbulut said fingerprints taken from the gunmen’s shattered bodies will be sent to various countries through Interpol, the international police organization, in an effort to identify them.

The composite drawings, also to be distributed by Interpol, were based on a survivor’s description and on the gunmen’s remains, police said.

Previously, police had said that all they knew about the gunmen was that they appeared to be Arabs in their 20s.

Several Palestinian and Shia Muslim groups have claimed responsibility for the massacre.

On Tuesday, the Libyan Consulate in Istanbul said in a statement that Libya had nothing to do with the massacre. It accused the United States of trying to blame the attack on Tripoli as part of a campaign “in preparation for another American military attack.”

Two victims of Saturday’s attack were buried Tuesday in Israel.

Mirza Babazade, 82, an Iranian-born, retired carpet merchant who emigrated to Israel in 1979, was buried on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. Rafael Nesim, 65, also Iranian born, was buried in a separate ceremony at Shaul Hill on Jerusalem’s outskirts.

“A righteous man has been murdered. . . . The Israeli government will do all it can to sever the hand of evil and crime,” Religious Affairs Minister Yosef Burg said in a eulogy for Babazade. Prime Minister Shimon Peres and other Cabinet members have also vowed retaliation.

The 19 other victims, all Turkish citizens, will be buried today after funeral services at the Neve Shalom Synagogue.