Bangkok (dpa) – Thai officials on Wednesday said it was too early to link three blasts in Bangkok to international terrorist groups. “At the moment, there is no evidence linking this incident to terrorism,” Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said. On Tuesday, an explosion in a rented house in Bangkok prompted the four foreign residents to flee, police said. One man, after failing to hail a cab, threw a grenade at a taxi, injuring the driver and three pedestrians. He later threw another at a police car, but it bounced back and blew up in front of him, severing both legs. The suspect was initially identified as Iranian national Saeib Morabi. Police arrested another Iranian, Mohammad Hazai, 42, at Suvarnabhumi International Airport late Tuesday as he was about to board a plane to Kuala Lumpur. He had been identified by surveillance cameras as one three Iranians staying at the house where the bomb was detonated, police said. The two other suspects, including one woman, were still at large. Police said they found C-4 plastic explosives in the house that they rented in Bangkok. “We are checking with the Iranian embassy whether the two men under custody are Iranians,” Surapong said. “They could be holding fake documents,” he noted. Bangkok is a regional hub for purchasing fake identification documents. Iran on Wednesday denied any involvement and condemned the attacks by accusing Israel. “The Zionist regime is trying to tarnish the historic ties between Iran and Thailand by such acts,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told state television network IRIB. The incident prompted 10 embassies to issue travel warnings to their citizens visiting Bangkok. Last month, the US and 10 other embassies issued travel warnings after being informed of planned terrorist attacks on US and Israeli citizens in the Thai capital. On January 16, police found 400 boxes of bomb-making materials in a shophouse believed to be linked to that plot. Police said they were alerted to the cache by Attis Hussein, a Swedish-Lebanese man arrested days after the US embassy travel alert on suspicion of being a member of the Hezbollah militant group. Maintaining security and the country's appeal as a tourist destination is a key task for authorities in Thailand, which drew 19 million visitors last year. Although Iranians, unlike many Middle Eastern nationals, cannot get a visa on arrival, “there has been a significant increase in Iranian tourists visiting Thailand last year,” said a Thai diplomat who asked to remain anonymous. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/v0bpX Tags: Bangkok, Bomb, Terrorism, Thailand Section: East Asia, Latest News
