ISTANBUL — Turkish media say authorities have determined the identities of two of three suicide bombers responsible for the Ataturk Airport attack that killed 44 people this week in Istanbul.

The state-run Anadolu Agency reported Friday that the Bakirkoy Public Prosecutor’s Office had established the identity of two suspects in the course of investigations. The investigation into the third suspect’s identity is ongoing.

The identity of one suspect was determined through a photocopy of his passport, which he submitted to a realtor in order to rent a house in Istanbul’s Fatih district. In addition, a computer that had been destroyed was found in a trash bin near the apartment where the suicide bombers were staying. The police are trying to access the information on the computer.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeated that the Islamic State group “most probably” was behind the Istanbul airport attack, adding that its militants would end up “in hell.”

Speaking in Istanbul following Friday prayers, Erdogan said the extremist group claims to carry out acts in the name of Islam, but said it has nothing to do with the religion.

“They have no connection to Islam. Their place is in hell,” he said.

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“These people were innocent; they were children, women, elderly, … They embarked on a journey unaware, and came face to face with death. You have no such right,” Erdogan said.

Swedish authorities say an ethnic Chechen identified as the organizer of the Istanbul airport bombing that killed 44 people was convicted of weapons smuggling in 2008.

The chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, along with Turkish and Swedish media, says Akhmed Chatayev directed the three suicide bombers who carried out the attack Tuesday. Chatayev’s whereabouts are unclear.

The city court in the southern Sweden port city of Ystad says Chatayev was sentenced to 16 months for smuggling an automatic weapon and two handguns with munition and silencers into Sweden on March 3, 2008.

Court documents obtained by The Associated Press on Friday show Chatayev had arrived by ferry from Germany. He and two others in the car said they were heading to Norway to go fishing and meet friends.

Court documents show he denied knowing about the guns hidden in a spare wheel in the trunk. A local paper says he was freed from prison in January 2009.


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