Five held over 'Turkey PM plot'

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Police in the Turkish city of Adana have arrested five people suspected of planning to attack Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reports have said.

The suspects were detained just before Mr Erdogan visited the southern city on Saturday for a political rally, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

The governor of Adana province, Ilhan Atis, has confirmed the five arrests, but has not given any other details.

One of those held is reportedly a woman with close ties to the security forces.

She was detained after police intercepted a suspicious telephone conversation about Mr Erdogan's campaign visit ahead of municipal elections on 29 March, and later provided information that led to the four other arrests, the Haberturk newspaper reported.

It is not immediately clear if the arrests are connected to the so-called Ergenekon investigation into an alleged plot to topple the government.

Retired military officers, politicians, academics and journalists were among the 86 who went on trial in October, accused of being part of a shadowy right-wing group known as Ergenekon.

Critics of the government accuse it of simply rounding up some of its fiercest opponents.