Thai Police Seek New Iranian Bomb Suspect

[webfact]

Thai police seek new Iranian bomb suspect

by Anusak Konglang

BANGKOK, February 17, 2012 (AFP) - Police in Thailand said Friday they were hunting for a fifth Iranian suspected in a failed bomb plot in Bangkok that has sent tensions between Israel and Iran soaring.

The tourist magnet has stepped up security following Tuesday's blasts, the third bomb incident to shake world capitals in less than 24 hours. Tehran has denied Israeli charges it is waging a terror campaign against the Jewish state.

Arrest warrants have been issued for four Iranians, two of whom have been detained and charged over the botched attack, which came to light after an apparently unintended explosion at a Bangkok house on Tuesday.

Now police are compiling evidence and witness accounts to seek a warrant for another suspect whose whereabouts are unknown.

"The additional suspect is 52-year-old Iranian man Nikkhahfard Javad who was seen leaving the house hours before the blast," said Bangkok Metropolitan Police deputy commander Anuchai Lekbumrung.

According to Thai media, the man is suspected of being a trainer in bomb-making.

Thai police chief Phrewphan Damapong has said that Israeli diplomats were the intended target of the plot, but Tehran has rejected accusations that it is behind a terror campaign against the Jewish state.

One of the suspects -- named as 28-year-old Saeid Moradi -- had his legs blown off as he hurled a bomb at Thai police while fleeing.

Another, Mohamad Khazaei, was detained trying to board a flight out of the country.

Thailand is seeking the extradition of another Iranian arrested in Malaysia in connection with the blasts, while an Iranian woman who rented the house used by the suspects in Bangkok is thought to have fled the kingdom.

Israel has blamed Iran over the Bangkok plot, as well as attacks on Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Tehran on Thursday of being "the most irresponsible power on Earth" and said sanctions over its nuclear programme "haven't worked."

"The one that exports terror with abandon is murdering people and breaking all the rules," Netanyahu told reporters during a one-day visit to Cyprus.

Tehran has denied responsibility for the string of incidents.

Bangkok has been on alert since mid January when police arrested a Lebanese man with alleged links to Hezbollah on suspicion he was planning an attack, following a US warning that tourists might be targeted.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah denied his Lebanese militant party had any role in the attacks on Israeli diplomats, in a televised address on Thursday.

US ambassador Kristie Kenney told AFP that the US warning for Bangkok was still in effect.

"We really can't say at this point while it is being investigated when the threat will be over," she said.

Meanwhile it emerged that three of the suspects holidayed in the Thai resort of Pattaya just days before the blasts.

"The three suspects stayed in different hotels in Pattaya," said an immigration officer in the coastal city who did not want to be named.

Police have tracked down a Thai woman known as "Nancy" who escorted one of the men, Mohamad Khazaei, during his stay, he added.

"The most important evidence we found are pictures in Nancy's mobile phone taken on the night of February 11 which prove that these suspects know each other," the officer said.

Pattaya, about a two-hour drive southeast of Bangkok, has earned a reputation for its wild nightlife thanks to its thriving red light district.

According to the Bangkok Post daily, the Thai woman was also in the suspect's hotel room "but didn't detect any irregularities except one time when he barred her from approaching a closet in the room."

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-02-17

[ricardofel]

Mr Ministers...People who make bombs are terrorists! It is time you realized that. You sound very fooooooolish with all of your insipid denials.

[ianf]

There are some interesting things about this story:

First of all Chalerm was fairly adamant that there was no problem .... then the predicted blasts happened.

Secondly, and I love this! ........

Muslim men (especially the radicals) cover up their women and put them in a black sack with an opening for the eyes. They have a hugely repressive attitude towards women and treat them like dirt. They also do not drink alcohol. If I go to Saudi, say, and open a bottle and drink in public I'll end up in jail or possibly beheaded. If I, as a UK citizen go to Saudi with my woman and she drives a car or shows her body (bits of it) then we'd be jailed and then run out of the country.

But these good muslims, who take the above repressive attitude in the name of their god, can come to Thailand (or lOndon for that matter) cavort with prostitutes and openly drink alcohol as if its the OK thing to do

Such hypocrisy makes me sick to the core.

[Orac]

"According to Thai media, the man is suspected of being a trainer in bomb-making."

The Iranian's are probably keen to get this guy off the streets as well before he blows up any more of their safehouses.

[julemanden]

There are some interesting things about this story:

First of all Chalerm was fairly adamant that there was no problem .... then the predicted blasts happened.

Secondly, and I love this! ........

Muslim men (especially the radicals) cover up their women and put them in a black sack with an opening for the eyes. They have a hugely repressive attitude towards women and treat them like dirt. They also do not drink alcohol. If I go to Saudi, say, and open a bottle and drink in public I'll end up in jail or possibly beheaded. If I, as a UK citizen go to Saudi with my woman and she drives a car or shows her body (bits of it) then we'd be jailed and then run out of the country.

But these good muslims, who take the above repressive attitude in the name of their god, can come to Thailand (or lOndon for that matter) cavort with prostitutes and openly drink alcohol as if its the OK thing to do

Such hypocrisy makes me sick to the core.

Your NOT alone !

[webfact]

Warrant sought for fifth suspect in blasts

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Police are seeking an arrest warrant for a fifth suspect in Tuesday's bomb blasts in Bangkok.

Authorities have also been monitoring arrivals and departures of the suspects' associates, their activities, and their financial transactions here by scrutinising documents, security camera footage and other sources of information.

A source identified the fifth suspect as Nikkhafard Javad, 52. On the morning of February 14, the Iranian was seen leaving the rented house on Soi Pridi Banomyong where the other suspects had lived, carrying a bag. Hours later, an explosion erupted at the house and more blasts followed nearby.

Police believe Javad might have made bombs or taught bombmaking techniques to three other suspects now in detention.

Saeid Moradi, 28, was arrested on Tuesday at the scene of an explosion near the house. Mohammad Hazaei, 42, was nabbed at Suvarnabhumi Airport on the same day. Another suspect, Masoud Sedaghatzadeh, 31, was arrested in Malaysia.

The only female suspect, 32yearold Laila Rohani, is believed to have fled Thailand.

Deputy Metropolitan Police commissioner MajGeneral Anuchai Lekbamrung expected the court to issue an arrest warrant for the fifth suspect in a day or two.

"This fifth suspect will be facing charges of making explosives, unauthorised possession of explosives and causing explosions endangering others," he said.

An informed source said Javad was seen in the Thong Lor and Klong Tan areas when the explosions took place in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner LtGeneral Winai Sodsong yesterday said investigators had already questioned 16 witnesses and collected additional evidence from another residence rented by Rohani.

"We have found some stickers and cement blocks. Officials are examining the items," he said. He added that the stickers contained symbols that looked like Arabic characters.

Winai said the whereabouts of a sixth suspect, a man who accompanied Rohani when she rented the house on Soi Pridi Banomyong, were not known.

National Security Council secretarygeneral Wichean Potephosri, meanwhile, said authorities would be seeking the extradition of Sedaghatzadeh.

Deputy Prime Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapha said it remained unclear whether the bomb blasts in Thailand were related to similar incidents in Israel and Georgia.

"Thai police are investigating the blasts here," he said.

On Israel's suggestion that Iran was behind the blasts in Bangkok, Yuthasak said relevant authorities were working to find out what really happened.

"We are friends to both Iran and Israel," the deputy prime minister said.

Winai said security officials would keep a closer eye on tourist spots such as the Nana and Klong Tan areas, and Khao San Road.

According to police, three of the Iranian suspects went to Pattaya earlier this month. An escort girl who had accompanied them said the men seemed interested in terrorismrelated news but did not carry or buy any weapons.

-- The Nation 2012-02-18

[Jayman]

Sounds like the nationality of the bomb making teacher has finally been made public. Come on Iran, long term friends of Thailand, how about helping out a bit here with identification of these guys.

[Scott]

Off-topic, baiting and inflammatory posts removed.

Stick to the topic.