Bomb material found in Thailand after terror warnings

Authorities beefed up security in parts of the capital and other areas popular with tourists after the United States and Israel warned on Friday of a possible terrorist attack.

Police detained a Lebanese man reportedly carrying a Swedish passport. Officials said he had links with Hezbollah, a Shiite Islamist group in Lebanon backed by Syria and Iran that is on the US blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations.

National police chief Priewpan Damapong told reporters the suspect, named as Atris Hussein, had given police an address where bomb-making material was being kept.

Officers discovered large amount of substances that could be used to make explosives in a building in Samut Sakhon, southwest of Bangkok, including 4,380 kg of urea and 10 gallons of liquid ammonium nitrate.

Priewpan said the suspect maintained that his group had not planned an attack in Thailand but intended to transport the substances to a third country. The officer declined to give the destination; Kazinform cites Arab News.

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