17.02.2012
Bangkok
Thailand
is seeking approval from the Malaysian authorities to extradite a suspect in
this week's bombing incident in Bangkok who fled
to Malaysia.
A plane has already been prepared to take the man back to Thailand.
Thailand and Malaysia do not
have an extradition treaty, though both countries have cooperated by turning
over suspects in the past, Police Lieutenant-General Thanakorn Siri-at,
Commissioner of the Special Branch Bureau, told reporters yesterday.
Thai officials detained two men with Iranian passports who accidentally set off
explosives in a house they were renting in Bangkok on Tuesday.
They are also seeking an Iranian woman, identified as Leila Rohani, who helped
the three men rent the house. But she has left Thailand
and is now in Tehran,
according to the top immigration police official, Lt-Gen Wiboon Bangthamai.
Meanwhile, Thailand's top
policeman confirmed yesterday that the three Iranian men were planning to
attack Israeli diplomats, in the first confirmation by local officials that the
group was plotting attacks in Thailand.
The statement came after days of strong accusations by Israel that Iran
was behind the botched plot as well as two others in India
and the former Soviet republic
of Georgia this week. Iran
has denied the charges.
Citing the similarity of bombs used in New Delhi
and Tbilisi,
the national police chief, General Prewpan Dhamapong, said that the Thai
authorities now "know for certain that (the target) was Israeli
diplomats".
"This issue was about individuals and the targets were specific," he
said. "This was something personal."
One of the Iranians, Mohammad Kharzei, was paraded before journalists yesterday
wearing a striped short-sleeve shirt.
Gen Prewpan said Kharzei had "partially confessed" and had
acknowledged knowing one of the other suspects, Saeid Moradi, who lost both his
legs when he tried to throw a grenade at police as he was fleeing.
The suspects face criminal charges including possession of explosives,
attempted murder, attempted murder of a policeman and causing explosions that
damaged property.
Gen Prewpan said he believed there already was enough evidence to prosecute
them.
The Israeli Ambassador to Thailand,
Mr Itzhak Shoham, declined to comment on reports his staff had been specifically
targeted. He said the Israeli Embassy was open and functioning as normal.
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