Hambali Denies APEC Attack Plan: Thai Press

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, August 19, 2003

Hambali Denies APEC Attack Plan: Thai Press

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The Jemaah Islamiyah's (JI) number two person Hambali denied any terrorists plan targeted the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit of 2003, saying he stayed in Thailand only for hideout, Thai press reported on Tuesday.

When the suspected mindmaster was asked about the possible plantargeted the APEC summit, which will be held in Bangkok in October,"he said no," an unnamed Thai security official was quoted by newspaper The Nation as saying.

Hambali, al-Queda's major operative in southeast Asia and planner of a string of terrorists attacks in the region, was arrested in central Thailand on Aug. 11.

Flown out of Thailand on Aug. 13, he was now receiving interrogation under a group of international officials, including two from Thailand and the others from the United States and Malaysia.

"That was the first question our men asked because we were concerned about the safety of the APEC meeting," said the official,who was reportedly from the Thai Special Branch Police.

The Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra previously confirmedthat Hambali and his henchmen had viewed several APEC venues in Thailand and they were conspiring attacks targeted the event.

But the prime minister later stressed that the capture of Hambali would ensure the security issue of APEC meetings, while press quoted intelligent sources saying that Hambali's 5 henchmen were still at large in Thailand for attack plan.

The earliest information of interrogation came on Thursday, when Hambali was asked specifically about JI's intentions in Thailand and the APEC summit.

"He said he had sent money from Thailand to Indonesia," said the source, adding that the Indonesian confessed that he was in Thailand also for hideout and regroup.

"We were relieved," said the Thai official, warning "we can't lower our guard. JI is still a threat."

The US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage on Sunday also warned possible threat to the security of the APEC meeting.

He said in Sydney that it was a "foolish assumption" that the arrest of Hambali meaning there was no more threat to APEC meeting.

"I think the better assumption is that these fellows are out todo us ill and we ought to take every precaution against this," he told Australia's Channel 9 network.

Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush thanked the Thai government for the cooperation in the capture of Hambali and said he was looking forward to attending the APEC summit, said Thaksin on Monday.

He also said some JI members frequently travelled in and out ofthe country, but posed no threat.

He added that the government would strengthen immigration restrictions and crackdown on passport forgery gangs.

Hambali reportedly entered Thailand through the Thai-Lao borderfrom the north with a fake Spanish passport.

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