BANGKOK, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Council for National Security (CNS)
chairman Sonthi Boonyaratkalin told people on Saturday to ignore a statement by
his own CNS deputy secretary-general Saprang Kalayanamitr that British police
had found a Bangkok terrorist manual in a London apartment.
Sonthi said rumors about unrest in the country are a political tactic of
"some groups with agenda," so the people should not worry about it. He asked
people to place their trust in the national security agencies who will safeguard
them, reported the web edition of the Bangkok Post newspaper.
He added the government, the army and the CNS do not neglect such remarks,
and they are prepared for possible violence in the country.
However, Sonthi said that it is the responsibility of the Foreign Ministry
to check facts and find information on the issue of the alleged terrorist
manual.
He added that he believed Saprang's remark should not hurt the credibility
of the CNS.
The report of a possible terrorist attack in Bangkok stemmed from remarks
by Saprang during a lecture on Bangkok security given to Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration's district directors on Thursday.
During the lecture, he said British police had found a copy of a document
outlining a plan to launch terrorist attacks in Bangkok. They found the plan in
a London apartment.
But Saprang Friday clarified the document in question was old information,
dating back to the end of the Cold War. It warned of terrorist attacks in
several cities, including Bangkok.
However, no other diplomatic or military source could confirm such a book
existed. Opposition members in Thailand demanded that the government ask the
British government for further details.