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| Thailand calls in international help to hunt Bangkok bombing suspects | |
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| The hunt for a man believed to have planted a bomb in Bangkok that killed 20 people has gone international, with Thailand seeking help from Interpol and international airlines asking passengers with any information to come forward. | The hunt for a man believed to have planted a bomb in Bangkok that killed 20 people has gone international, with Thailand seeking help from Interpol and international airlines asking passengers with any information to come forward. |
| Related: Thai police publish sketch of Bangkok bombing suspect | Related: Thai police publish sketch of Bangkok bombing suspect |
| The widening of the inquiry came as national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said the bombing may have involved a network of people, suggesting as many as 10 people could have played a part. | The widening of the inquiry came as national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said the bombing may have involved a network of people, suggesting as many as 10 people could have played a part. |
| But a spokesman for the ruling junta insisted that the bomb attack was “unlikely” to be the work of international terrorists, saying it was not specifically targeted at Chinese tourists. | But a spokesman for the ruling junta insisted that the bomb attack was “unlikely” to be the work of international terrorists, saying it was not specifically targeted at Chinese tourists. |
| “Security agencies have cooperated with agencies from allied countries and have come to the preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism,” said Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order. | “Security agencies have cooperated with agencies from allied countries and have come to the preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism,” said Colonel Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order. |
| Thai authorities had at first been reluctant to seek help in the investigation into the blast, which hit a busy shrine on Monday evening, killing 20 and wounding scores. | Thai authorities had at first been reluctant to seek help in the investigation into the blast, which hit a busy shrine on Monday evening, killing 20 and wounding scores. |
| Staff on a British Airways flight from Singapore to Sydney on Thursday appealed to passengers who had visited the Erawan shrine, a major tourist attraction in the heart of the Thai capital, to come forward. They said those who took photos at the site in the days before the attack should contact Australian federal police. | Staff on a British Airways flight from Singapore to Sydney on Thursday appealed to passengers who had visited the Erawan shrine, a major tourist attraction in the heart of the Thai capital, to come forward. They said those who took photos at the site in the days before the attack should contact Australian federal police. |
| Three days after the attack, described by the prime minister as the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand, police have not announced that any suspects have been arrested. | Three days after the attack, described by the prime minister as the worst incident that has ever happened in Thailand, police have not announced that any suspects have been arrested. |
| Police chief Somyot said on Thursday “there must have been at least 10 people involved”. | Police chief Somyot said on Thursday “there must have been at least 10 people involved”. |
| He told reporters: “It is a big network. There was preparation using many people. This includes those who looked out on the streets, prepared the bomb and those at the site and … those who knew the escape route.” | He told reporters: “It is a big network. There was preparation using many people. This includes those who looked out on the streets, prepared the bomb and those at the site and … those who knew the escape route.” |
| The main evidence in the case appears to be grainy CCTV footage of a man in a yellow t-shirt dropping a black backpack of at the shrine, minutes before the detonation. | The main evidence in the case appears to be grainy CCTV footage of a man in a yellow t-shirt dropping a black backpack of at the shrine, minutes before the detonation. |
| Authorities on Wednesday released an electronic sketch of a thin man with dark, shaggy hair and a light complexion, wearing black-rimmed glasses, but later said he may have been wearing a disguise. | Authorities on Wednesday released an electronic sketch of a thin man with dark, shaggy hair and a light complexion, wearing black-rimmed glasses, but later said he may have been wearing a disguise. |
| Related: Bangkok bombing: two more men in CCTV footage being treated as suspects | Related: Bangkok bombing: two more men in CCTV footage being treated as suspects |
| Two other men seen in the security camera footage are also being treated as suspects by police. | Two other men seen in the security camera footage are also being treated as suspects by police. |
| Observers have criticised the way the blast scene was contaminated in the hours after the attack, as journalists and passersby walked into the area where glass and chunks of human flesh still lay on the road. Less than 24 hours after the attack, authorities had cleaned the area and paved over the small bomb crater. | Observers have criticised the way the blast scene was contaminated in the hours after the attack, as journalists and passersby walked into the area where glass and chunks of human flesh still lay on the road. Less than 24 hours after the attack, authorities had cleaned the area and paved over the small bomb crater. |
| Prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had said on Wednesday that Thailand was not seeking outside help. “This incident happened in Thailand. It is Thailand. Why do we want other people to come in and investigate?” the former general told journalists. | Prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had said on Wednesday that Thailand was not seeking outside help. “This incident happened in Thailand. It is Thailand. Why do we want other people to come in and investigate?” the former general told journalists. |
| As the attack has no precedent in the country, police and observers have struggled to suggest a motive. On Tuesday, Thailand’s army chief said the attack did not bear the hallmarks of Muslim separatists in the south who have been waging an insurgency for years. Violence has been used by Thai political groups, but a large-scale bombing is unheard of. | As the attack has no precedent in the country, police and observers have struggled to suggest a motive. On Tuesday, Thailand’s army chief said the attack did not bear the hallmarks of Muslim separatists in the south who have been waging an insurgency for years. Violence has been used by Thai political groups, but a large-scale bombing is unheard of. |
| Somyot suggested authorities were also looking at ethnic Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from China’s western Xinjiang region, many of whom have fled to south-east Asia. | Somyot suggested authorities were also looking at ethnic Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from China’s western Xinjiang region, many of whom have fled to south-east Asia. |
| Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uighurs to China in July, angering the community and causing an outcry from human rights groups and the UN, which said they could face persecution and abuse. | Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uighurs to China in July, angering the community and causing an outcry from human rights groups and the UN, which said they could face persecution and abuse. |
| “Police are not ruling out anything including [Thai] politics and the conflict of ethnic Uighurs who, before this, Thailand sent back to China,” Somyot said. | “Police are not ruling out anything including [Thai] politics and the conflict of ethnic Uighurs who, before this, Thailand sent back to China,” Somyot said. |