Lebanese to appear in Thai court on weapons charges

BANGKOK // A Lebanese man with suspected links to Hizbollah arrested in Thailand will appear in court tomorrow on charges of breaking weapons control laws, a senior prosecutor said.

The suspect, who is also believed to have a Swedish passport, was arrested in Bangkok in January and police later found a large amount of chemicals that could be used to make a bomb at an address he rented.

"Prosecutors agreed to charge him with breaking weapons control laws," Pongniwat Yuthaponboripan, the director general of the department of criminal litigation, said.

Mr Pongniwat said the suspect may also be charged with terrorism.

The court will hear his plea tomorrow.

Before his arrest, the US had warned of a "serious" threat of a terrorist attack on tourist areas in Bangkok.

The country has been further shaken by a string of botched blasts in the capital on February 14 in an alleged plot to kill Israeli diplomats.

Thai police are holding two Iranians, one of whom was badly hurt as he hurled a bomb at police while fleeing.

Another suspect was detained in Malaysia, while arrest warrants have been issued for two more Iranians believed to have left the country.