WRITER: WASSANA NANUAM & AEKARACH SATTABURUTH
Thailand is seeking the extradition of one of six suspects detained recently in Malaysia's Kelantan state next to the deep South with bomb-making materials, who is also wanted by Thai police in connection with the southern unrest, army chief Chalermchai Sittisat says.
The six men who are believed to be members of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) may have to be prosecuted in Malaysia first before the suspect is deported to Thailand, Gen Chalermchai said.
The army commander, however, admitted that he was uncertain whether the Malaysian authorities will ever agree to have the suspect extradited to Thailand.
And in response to rumours that the six suspects are linked to the Islamic State (IS), Gen Chalermchai said he could not confirm that at this point as the definition of "being linked to" the IS may vary in terms of connection in that some may only have inspired by or adopted ideas from the IS.
Malaysian authorities, who conducted raids on suspected IS hideouts last week, said the arrested Thais were not believed to be linked to the Islamic State, but were assembling bombs they probably planned to use in Thailand.
He was responding to the reported crackdowns carried out by Malaysian police at locations in Kelantan's Pasir Mas district on Jan 15, just across the border from Narathiwat province in Thailand.
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