Suspect had many accomplices: police

Ongoing police investigation into a high-profile terrorism case suggests that Lebanese suspect Atris Hussein may have had many accomplices, including some Thais, Deputy National Police Commissioner General Pansiri Prapawat disclosed yesterday.
“We will question people who have been in contact with Atris,” he said, refusing to elaborate.
Police said that Hussein, 47, had confessed to storing large amounts of ammonia nitrate and urea fertiliser at a shop house in Samut Sakhon and was planning to export it to a third country. He currently faces the charge of possessing prohibited substances.
“The items in his possession could be used to make bombs,” Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lt-General Winai Thongsong said, adding that three Arabs had been seen going in and out of the shop house.
“They were last seen six months ago, but we believe they have already left Thailand,” Winai said.
He added that police had found evidence that Hussein had contacted shipping firms in order to export the bomb-making materials. “We have already alerted the authorities of the intended destination,” he said, adding that Hussein was just a man assigned to handle the bomb-making materials in Thailand and not key to any terror plots.
Urea fertiliser is freely available in Thailand and possessing it is not a legal offence. However, ammonia nitrate is a controlled substance and unauthorised possession constitutes the violation of law.
Assistant National Police Commissioner Lt-General Jaramporn Suramanee said the Scientific Crime Detection Division was examining fingerprints to determine who else might have been involved.
Winai said Hussein had told police that he had never exported bomb-making materials out of Thailand before.
“He was going to do it for the first time,” he said.
Pansiri said Hussein was cooperating with the police and that investigation was making good progress. To date, he said, the suspect has not been charged with terrorism.
It is widely believed that Hussein has links with Hezbollah, a militant political party in Lebanon that is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States, Britain, Canada and several other countries.
Israeli police had reportedly warned Thai police in December that a Hezbollah member of Lebanese descent had entered Thailand and was plotting to stage terror attacks in key foreign tourist sites on Sukhumvit and Khao San roads. The targets were allegedly people from countries considered hostile to the Arab world.
Police had since been pursuing all leads and finally nabbed Hussein at Suvarnabhumi Airport last week. An informed source said Hussein had travelled in and out of Thailand several times over the past two years and usually stayed at Bangkok’s All Seasons Hotel.
According to the source, Hussein had revealed in jail that bomb-making materials were being kept in a shophouse in Samut Sakhon and that he used to drive around the capital taking photos of key sites.
Yet, when the charge was filed against him officially, he denied any wrongdoing.
“We will question more witnesses and gather more evidence before deciding whether to file terrorism charges,” Pansiri said yesterday.
The Criminal Court yesterday approved an initial 12-day detention for Hussein pending further investigation. He is now being held at the Bangkok Remand Prison.