Thai court approves extended detention of terrorist suspect

BANGKOK, January 18 (TNA) - Bangkok's Criminal Court has approved Thai police's request for a 12-day extended detention of a suspected Lebanese terrorist who was arrested at Thailand's main Suvarnabhumi International Airport last Friday night. The Criminal Court, in its decision on Tuesday, also approved the Thai police's request on a bail denial for the detained Lebanese man, Atris Hussein, suspected to have linked with the hard-line Hezbollah militant group in the Middle East, on grounds that he was alleged to have involved in a terror threat and may flee Thailand if granted temporary release on bail. Hussein on Monday led Thai police to a building in Bangkok's suburban Samut Sakhon Province where over 4,000 tons of urea fertilizer and more than 300 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, used to make bombs, were stored. Under the Thai laws, police can request court orders to detain a criminal suspect up to five times, each for a period of 12 days pending prosecution. The Lebanese suspect, who initially insisted that the bomb precursors seized at the building would be used by his team for making explosives planned to attack overseas targets, not any area in Thailand, has been detained at Bangkok Remand Prison. (TNA)