ISTANBUL, Turkey, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Turkish police shot and killed a gunman who wounded two people in Istanbul's Topkapi Palace, officials said Wednesday.
Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said the gunman was a Libyan national, Today's Zaman reported.
The newspaper said a witness described the gunman as an Arab. The man walked into Topkapi Palace and closed the doors after shooting a soldier in the leg and a private guard in the abdomen, the witness said.
The Ottoman-era palace is one of Istanbul's major tourist attractions.
Witnesses said the gunman fought with police for more than an hour.
Today's Zaman said witnesses reported the gunman shouted "God is great" in Arabic and said he was from Syria. The newspaper said that raised concerns the incident was linked to tensions between Turkey and Syria over that country's crackdown on protesters.
However, Sahin said the gunman was a Libyan national born in 1975 and identified him as Samir Salem Ali Elmadhavri, who had entered Turkey during the weekend and arrived at the scene of the shooting in a car with Syrian plates.
