| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
APEC targeted in Thai terror plot
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- A summit of world leaders was the focus of a plot by Muslim militants to attack embassies in Thailand later this year, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said. Thaksin's comments were the first to tie the alleged plan to the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which world leaders are scheduled to attend. Four suspected militants have been arrested in Thailand over the past month including a Singaporean man, Arifin bin Ali. "After the investigation, Arifin confessed in written form which organisation or group he is involved with and the embassies they planned to bomb during the APEC meeting," Reuters reported Thaksin as saying Saturday in a weekly radio address to the nation. Arifin -- arrested by Thai authorities on May 16 -- is a senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah who underwent training in weapons and explosives with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, according to Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs. The MILF is an Islamic militant group in the Philippines that has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks against civilians. Three other members of JI were arrested in Thailand Tuesday on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks at embassies and tourist sites in the country. The three Thai men, including a doctor and a father and son, were arrested in early morning raids of their homes, Thai intelligence officials said. The suspects lived in a predominantly Muslim area in the south of the country in which authorities believe a JI cell operates. A Thai official said at the time that authorities suspected the men were planning "to carry out attacks on foreign embassies and tourist attractions" at sites including Pattaya and Phuket. The United States and Australia recently warned against travel to those areas, citing the possibility of terrorist attacks. Officials from several Asian countries and terrorist analysts say Jemaah Islamiya is linked to al Qaeda. "The Jemaah Islamiya network is more or less the al Qaeda cell in Southeast Asia," Southeast Asian analyst Zachary Abuza told CNN. U.S. President George W. Bush is among the world leaders scheduled to visit Thailand on October 20-21 to attend the APEC meeting in Bangkok. Thaksin's latest comments follow the arrest in Thailand of a man on charges of smuggling radioactive material which police said could be used to to construct a "dirty bomb." (Thai held on 'dirty bomb 'charge) -- CNN Bangkok Bureau Chief Tom Mintier and Correspondent Maria Ressa contributed to this report
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
