Police chief: Plot to attack Bangkok is voided

BANGKOK, January 14 (TNA) - National Police Chief Police General Priewpan Damapong said on Saturday Thai police have been informed that the Hezbollah militant group, known as a hardline regional extremist network, has cancelled its plan to attack public areas in Bangkok. Police General Priewpan acknowledged that the Thai police have been told by a Lebanese man who was earlier arrested at Thailand's main Suvarnabhumi International Airport last night that his group's terrorist plot in Bangkok has now been scrapped, as Thai security units have learned about the plan. Police General Priewpan, however, declined to provide more information to the journalists, insisting that tight security measures in the Thai capital have been maintained and he has instructed combined crime suppression, metropolitan and tourist police forces to ensure peace and order in what are considered sensitive areas in the city, namely foreign embassies, Khao San Road and Sukhumvit 22 Road. According to the national police chief, the Lebanese suspect, identified as Atris Hussein, has remained in a police custody and foreign police and intelligence officers were invited during the Thai police's questioning of the suspected terrorist. The national police chief said that the Thai police have also released the sketch of another terrorist suspect who is a 180-centimetre-tall Middle East man and are checking whether the suspect has any connection with the detained Lebanese. In Pattaya, a globally-renowned tourist destination in the eastern Thai Chonburi Province, local police have also stepped up security and intelligence measures, particularly in locations normally crowded with people and tourists in order to maintain social order and public safety. (TNA)