Thais get $10m for Hambali arrest<\/p>\n
Agencies, Bangkok<\/p>\n
The United States has given Thailand a US$10 million bounty for
\nthe arrest of top Southeast Asian terror suspect Hambali, Prime
\nMinister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"The money has arrived and I will be the one who decides who
\nwill get what,\" Thaksin told reporters. \"The money disbursement
\nmust not cause disunity among security agencies here.\"<\/p>\n
He said 10 officers named by Washington would receive a large
\npart of the reward with the rest shared among the charities of
\npolice and military units involved in last month's capture of the
\nman believed to be al-Qaeda's top man in the region.<\/p>\n
He said the money would be split among the National Security
\nCouncil, the Military Security Center, the Special Branch Police
\nand local police who helped in the arrest.<\/p>\n
Earlier, reports surfaced in Bangkok that Washington had
\noffered a $4 million bounty for Hambali's capture but this was
\nnever confirmed by American authorities.<\/p>\n
Thaksin did not say when the Americans gave the money but a
\nThai government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
\nit was presented after a 50-person U.S. security team arrived on
\nTuesday as part of security arrangements for Bush's Oct. 20-21
\nvisit to Thailand.<\/p>\n
Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, is
\naccused of masterminding last year's nightclub blasts that killed
\n202 people on the Indonesian island of Bali and other bombings.
\nHe is the alleged operations chief of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a
\nSoutheast Asian terrorist network with links to al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
Shortly after his Aug. 11 capture, U.S. President George W.
\nBush called Hambali \"one of the world's most lethal terrorists.\"<\/p>\n
Hambali was arrested in the ancient temple city of Ayutthaya,
\n80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Bangkok, by Thai forces and the
\nU.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was handed over to
\nU.S. authorities three days later and flown to an undisclosed
\nlocation for interrogation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thais-get-10m-for-hambali-arrest-1447893297",
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