Thai police seeking Muslim insurgent arrest for blasts

By CS Thana

BANGKOK (AA) - Thai police are seeking the arrest of a suspect they say is part of a network that carried out last week's bomb attacks which left four people dead.

Police Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul told reporters Tuesday that police had forwarded the warrant request after finding the DNA of a known insurgent on a diffused bomb.

"The DNA matched that of a suspect known to be operating with insurgent networks in Narathiwat in 2004," he said.

Narathiwat is one of three provinces affected by a violent Muslim insurgency in the country's south.

The Thai junta has suggested political opponents were responsible, while police are prioritizing the theory that the attacks were by southern Muslim insurgents operating beyond their traditional powerbases of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

The warrant was approved by the Nakhon Si Thammarat military court, which deals with cases relating to national security.

Srivara said that the arrest of the suspect "was key" in unlocking the network that carried out the attacks.