Report: Thailand Issues Arrest Warrant against 2nd Lebanese Hizbullah Suspect
Thailand charged another Lebanese Hizbullah suspect identified as James Sammy Paolo, who is an alleged accomplice of Hussein Atris, for planning to carry out a terrorist activity.
The Criminal Court in Thailand issued on Thursday an arrest warrant against Paolo, 40, who will face the same charges as Atris, of possessing forbidden chemical substances.
Thailand Police Chief Gen. Priewpan Damapong said that the sketch of Paolo was given from a description by Atris.
Paolo was Atris' housemate at the warehouse in Samut Sakhon, on the western outskirts of Bangkok, where police seized 4,000 kilograms of urea fertilizer and several gallons of liquid ammonium nitrate, according to media reports published on Friday.
Bangkok Post said that police are trying to determine whether Paolo is still in Thailand and have contacted Interpol in their efforts to track him down.
Priewpan told the daily that both men are accused of violating the Military Supply Act by possessing ammonium nitrate without permission.
“Atris and Paolo were planning to send the chemicals to another country and had rented 10 containers from the Transport Co.,” Priewpan said.
Atris denied he is a member of Hizbullah consequently Thai police can only press a criminal charge against him where he could face up to five years in prison.
The U.S. Embassy had issued an "emergency message" last Friday warning of a possible terror threat against Americans in Bangkok, and Israel warned its citizens as well.
Thai authorities were caught off-guard by the U.S. announcement, hastily revealing they had detained a Swedish national of Lebanese origin with alleged links to Hizbullah and that intelligence indicated a plot could be carried out between Jan. 13 and 15.
Details of the alleged plot remained hazy due to conflicting accounts from Thai officials, some of whom said that Thailand appeared to have been a staging ground but not the target of any attack.
In Stockholm, Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Linn Duvhammar confirmed Atris has dual citizenship and said the Swedish embassy is helping him find a lawyer. He moved to Sweden in 1991 and spent 2006-09 in Lebanon before returning.
Duvhammar said the man was carrying a valid Swedish passport when he was arrested, as well as an old one that had been stained.
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