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After Spain, Thailand on Iraq threat list
Stockholm, Apr 08: After Spain its time for Thailand to face the ire for sending troops to Iraq.
Stockholm, Apr 08: After Spain its time for Thailand to face the ire for sending troops to Iraq.
Thailand`s embassy in Sweden has received a letter threatening the southeast Asian country with attacks like those on Spain in retaliation for sending troops to Iraq, Thai and Swedish officials said on Wednesday.
"Since Thailand has cooperated with U.S.A., the Satan`s states, and have interfered in the concern of Iraq by sending 443 Thai soldiers to the occupied land, we have our duty to inform you that Thailand is one of our targets after Spain," reads the letter, in ungrammatical English and dated March 31.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed the text of the letter, which concludes with the Muslim phrase "Insha Allah" or "God be willing" and the phrase: "Peace be upon those who follow the guidance".
Thai officials said it was signed with the Arabic name Al Bashir al-Makkawi.
"We are aware of this and we are working on it," said a senior officer at Sweden`s Sapo security police.
"An investigation is under way into where it came from and who sent the letter," Bengt Berglund, an inspector at Stockholm police`s diplomatic unit, told. It was the first such threat reported by any embassy in Stockholm since the March 11 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people, Berglund said.
Thailand has about 440 medical and engineering troops in the southern Iraqi city of Kerbala, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, but the Thai Foreign Ministry said that they were "not involved in military operations".
"They are only there for humanitarian reasons. We are helping the Iraqis," Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow told Reuters in Bangkok.
The letter was post-marked in the southern city of Malmo, which has one of the highest concentrations of immigrants in Sweden, and was received by the embassy in Stockholm on April 5, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Jan Janonius.
Bureau Report
"Since Thailand has cooperated with U.S.A., the Satan`s states, and have interfered in the concern of Iraq by sending 443 Thai soldiers to the occupied land, we have our duty to inform you that Thailand is one of our targets after Spain," reads the letter, in ungrammatical English and dated March 31.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed the text of the letter, which concludes with the Muslim phrase "Insha Allah" or "God be willing" and the phrase: "Peace be upon those who follow the guidance".
Thai officials said it was signed with the Arabic name Al Bashir al-Makkawi.
"We are aware of this and we are working on it," said a senior officer at Sweden`s Sapo security police.
"An investigation is under way into where it came from and who sent the letter," Bengt Berglund, an inspector at Stockholm police`s diplomatic unit, told. It was the first such threat reported by any embassy in Stockholm since the March 11 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people, Berglund said.
Thailand has about 440 medical and engineering troops in the southern Iraqi city of Kerbala, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, but the Thai Foreign Ministry said that they were "not involved in military operations".
"They are only there for humanitarian reasons. We are helping the Iraqis," Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow told Reuters in Bangkok.
The letter was post-marked in the southern city of Malmo, which has one of the highest concentrations of immigrants in Sweden, and was received by the embassy in Stockholm on April 5, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Jan Janonius.
Bureau Report