Thailand announces antiterrorist decree

Thailand announces antiterrorist decree

Agencies, Bangkok

Spurred by last week's car bombing in Jakarta and an upcoming
Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok, the Thai government has decreed a
tough new anti-terrorism law, the prime minister announced on
Monday.

Thaksin Shinawatra said the executive decree, issued on Sunday
night to take effect at midnight, aims to prevent the country
from becoming a haven for terrorists.

"Given that the terrorists have attacked our neighboring
nation ... the government cannot wait for Parliament to pass the
bill to become law, as it will take time. So we had to promulgate
the decree," Thaksin told reporters.

"With the law in place, terrorists can no longer use Thailand
as their safe haven," he said.

The law makes terrorism punishable by 20 years in jail to
death, and empowers police to search and arrest suspected
terrorists.

It defines terrorism as any violent act that causes damage to
life, personal freedom and public infrastructure, or any act that
threatens national security and peace.

Until now, Thailand had no specific law against terrorism, a
shortcoming that Thaksin had promised to correct when he met with
U.S. President George W. Bush in June in Washington.

Bush will be one of the 21 leaders who will attend the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's annual summit in
Bangkok Oct. 20-21.

Thaksin denied that U.S. pressure was behind the decree.
"The Parliament route is time consuming and we are hosting the
APEC meeting in October. ... Waiting for Parliament to pass the
law would be too late," he said.

Thaksin reiterated the government's view that Thailand is not
a terrorism target, but admitted that some terrorist suspects had
entered the country in the past.

"Some of them used to come ... but they have gone," he said.

Thai authorities arrested three Muslim men in southern
Thailand on June 10 on suspicion of planning to bomb foreign
embassies in Bangkok. A fourth man turned himself in on July 8.

They are allegedly linked with Jamaah Islamiyah, a regional
terrorist network blamed for last year's bombings in Bali,
Indonesia, which killed 202 people. It is also suspected of
carrying out the Aug. 5 bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in
Jakarta that killed 11 people and injured about 150.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the law was also
aimed at protecting Thailand during October's APEC summit when 21
heads of state, including Bush, will visit.

"If the meeting was being held in a country which had no
terrorism law, they might have to think a lot before coming," he
said.

Wissanu said that the law, which takes over and expands on
sections of the existing criminal code, would empower Thai
authorities to arrest people on terrorism blacklists instead of
merely kicking them out of the country.

"From now on we can take action against people who are on the
blacklists while in the past we could only revoke or deny their
visa," he said.