Istanbul, Turkey ? Two Arabic-language newspapers received separate statements Sunday claiming the al-Qaida terrorist network carried out the car bomb attacks that killed 23 people in two Istanbul synagogues.

A statement received by the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, said a unit of al-Qaida executed the attack on Saturday because it learned that agents of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad were in the synagogues.

Abdel Bari Atwan, the newspaper’s editor, told the pan-Arab cable station Al-Jazeera that the claim was received by e-mail from the Abu Hafs al-Masri brigades, which is suspected of links to al-Qaida and which has sent at least three similar claims to the paper regarding previous attacks.

“The Mujahedeen of Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades … after monitoring Mossad agents and confirming that five of the agents were present in two synagogues in central Istanbul, carried out their deadly blow,” the statement said.

Another e-mailed claim of responsibility sent to the London-based weekly Al-Majalla said al-Qaida carried out the Istanbul attacks as well as the car bomb Nov. 12 outside Italian police headquarters in Nasariyah, Iraq, that killed 19 Italians and more than a dozen Iraqis. Al-Majalla, which does not publish until Friday, provided excerpts of the e-mail to the AP.

The newspaper said the claim received Sunday was signed by an al-Qaida operative identified as Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, whom officials in Washington have said in the past was believed linked to the terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden.

The sophisticated attacks on the synagogues used pickup trucks stuffed with nearly identical explosives detonated minutes apart, likely by suicide bombers, officials said.

Israeli intelligence and explosives experts have teamed with Turkish investigators to investigate the bombings, which wounded more than 300 people, both Jews at the synagogues and Muslim bystanders on the streets.

Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu has said an international connection was “very likely.” However, the interior ministry declined to comment on the reported claims of responsibility.