Thailand: Fingerprints on bomb equipment match arrestee

Thailand’s military apprehended a second foreign suspect in connection with the deadly August 17 bombing in central Bangkok, said Winthai Suwaree, spokesman of the National Council for Peace and Order.

If it is confirmed, he says, that would establish Muslim Uighurs as principal suspects in the bomb attack, a very sensitive issue for both countries after the controversial deportation of more than 100 Uighurs from Thailand to China in July.

They believe the foreign man, arrested close to the Cambodian border, is a key part of a network behind the attack.

However, in Cambodia, a Cambodian border official stopped the bomb suspect and alerted other authorities.

When authorities announced the arrest Tuesday of the suspect at the border, they described him as bearing resemblance to a man spotted in surveillance video at the shrine who is believed to have planted the bomb.

With three more arrest warrants being issued by the authorities, the total is now seven.

The suspect, who the prime minister said was not a Thai national, was arrested by the Thai army while attempting to escape to Cambodia at the border in Sa Kaeo province.

The Erawan Shrine is especially popular with Chinese tourists, fueling speculation that it might be a target for people who believe the Uighurs are oppressed by China’s government.

Asked if the suspect was Uighur, Pol Gen Chakthip said: “He is according to his apparent passport, but we are still waiting for verification that the passport is genuine”.

It is unclear if the two detained men are Turkish, but police have been interrogating them though a Turkish translator and fake Turkish passports were seized in one raid, Reuters reported. The couple are wanted for possession of bomb-making material and supplying housing for terrorists at a Min Buri apartment.

Police named the latest suspect as Emrah Davutoglu, the husband of Thai national Wanna Suansan, the only other suspect to be publicly identified.

The source said the Turkish husband of Ms Wanna, Mr Davutoglu, was involved in bringing several of his countrymen into Thailand.

So far, only a suspected foreigner was arrested along with bomb- making materials allegedly similar to those used in the August 17 bombing at the shrine.

Chaktip said the man was insisting on his innocence during his interrogation. This is what their prime minister said….

Turkish protesters stormed the Thai consulate in Istanbul and forced it to close. He told The Associated Press the man’s name is Jusuf, but did not explain how he learned that or give a precise spelling.

Yesterday, a manhunt was underway for a man, wearing a yellow t-shirt and heavy-framed glasses, seen in CCTV footage apparently depositing a black rucksack at the scene before vanishing into the crowd only minutes before the explosion.