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February 17, 2012
Thailand Searches For More Suspects in Bangkok Blasts
VOA News
Photo: REUTERS
Thai police officers escort Iranian suspect Mohammad Khazaei (C) at the
Immigration Bureau in Bangkok February 16, 2012.
Authorities in Thailand are looking for at least two more suspects in
connection with this week's explosions in Bangkok that police say were
part of an assassination plot targeting Israeli diplomats.
Two Iranian men were arrested immediately after Tuesday's bomb blasts
in the Thai capital of Bangkok, which left four civilians injured. A
third suspect was arrested Wednesday in Malaysia at the international
airport in Kuala Lumpur.
Police say one of the two additional suspects being sought was seen on
closed circuit camera footage leaving the same house where the first of
Tuesday's blasts occurred.
Thai police chief Prewpan Dhamapon has said the explosives in the
Bangkok blasts were similar to those used in recent car bombing attacks
targeting Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia. Four people were
injured in the New Delhi attack, while the car bomb in Tbilisi was
defused.
Israel has accused Iran of being directly involved in the triple
blasts. Tehran has rejected the charge, accusing Israel of attempting
to harm the "friendly and historic" relations between it and Thailand.
Thailand has been on alert for a possible terrorist attack since a
Lebanese man with alleged links to Hezbollah was arrested in Bangkok
last month.
The first of Tuesday's blasts went off at a house rented by one of the
suspects in the center of the city. Two more explosions followed in the
streets outside, blowing the legs off one of the suspects. The second
suspect was arrested at Bangkok's international airport.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.