Thai Police "Arrests" Foreign Terrorist suspect

Jamaluddin Muhammad BANGKOK, Jan 14 (Bernama) – Following the warning by the United States Embassy in Thailand of possible terrorist attacks in this capital in the near future, Thai authorities have "arrested" a terrorist suspect. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said police had already arrested the suspect without giving further details. "Thai police have been informed of this matter long ago and the police had followed the man on 24-hour basis," she said. The premier asked members of the public and tourists not to panic as the situation was under control. The embassy, through its website, today warned its citizens in this country that foreign terrorists could be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in this capital in the near future. However, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of internal security matters Chalerm Yoobamrung clarified that the man was not arrested. "Instead, the Lebanese man was invited to the police station under the Immigration law to facilitate investigation into the matter," he said. Police invited the man to a police station, here, on Thursday, he said. "Thai police knew about this before the New Year because Israel informed the Thai government that the Hezbollah group had gone to Thailand. "Israel was worried that Hezbollah would conduct attacks against Israelis in Thailand," said Charlerm. Hezbollah is a militant group and political party based in Lebanon which emerged in following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon while US and Israel are among the few countries which categorised the Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. Charlem said the man was cooperating with the police in facilitating investigation into the matter. "He will only be arrested if investigation found something wrong," he said. "The Thai government can control the situation. We will not allow foreign terrorists to conduct any attack in Thailand," the minister said. Charlem said he understood that the United States knew this matter from Israel and then issued the warning to its (American) citizens in this country. -- BERNAMA Malaysia