Thai-Saudi ties may be severed: Saudi envoy

Thai-Saudi ties may be severed: Saudi envoy

BANGKOK (AFP): Saudi Arabia may sever relations with Thailand
if Thai authorities are unable to solve the Saudi jewelry case
and the murders here of four Saudi diplomats and a businessman,
Riyadh's envoy said last Saturday.

Saudi Charge d'Affaires Mohammad Said Khoja told local
reporters that Thai-Saudi relations would return to normal only
when the murders of the diplomats and the businessman and the
gems case are resolved.

"If the cases cannot be resolved, it is possible that
bilateral relations will be severed," Koja said, adding that the
decision was up to his government.

During a three-month period in mid 1989, a Thai servant stole
US$20 million in jewelry from the palace of a Saudi prince. The
Thai returned home with the loot and was caught, but only about
20 percent of the gems were returned and much of what was given
back was fake.

Three Saudi embassy employees were gunned down in separate but
coordinated attacks in Bangkok on Feb. 1, 1990, and Khoja has
said they were killed because they had key information about the
missing jewels.

Thailand's new police chief, Pote Bunyachinda, vowed during
his swearing in ceremony Friday to pursue the case of the missing
jewelry no matter where it takes him, news reports said.

Businessman Mohammed al-Ruwali disappeared here on Feb. 12,
1990, and Khoja has said he was abducted and killed after he made
a phone call to a friend in Saudi Arabia in which he said he knew
about the jewels.

A fifth Saudi, embassy third secretary Salah el-Malik, was
murdered on Jan. 4, 1990, but his death is not believed to be
linked to the missing gems.

Khoja repeated his confidence in the government efforts to
resolve the cases.

He also said he believes the large blue diamond worth some 320
million baht ($12.8 million), which is considered to be the key
piece stolen, is still in Thailand and in possession of a police
general.

The envoy said he would be satisfied if the jewelry is
retrieved, even if no one is brought to justice.