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.