Terrorist handbook 'old news'
Assistant Army chief General Saprang Kalayanamitr yesterday sought to downplay public fears following his revelation that British police had found a terrorist handbook in a London apartment that mentioned bombing targets in Bangkok, saying it had been discovered long ago, after end of the Cold War.
Saprang said he had not mentioned the handbook's existence to create public panic or spread fear but only to remind those responsible for national security to exercise extra caution. "I don't want people in the next generation to regret future attacks, as we do now the violent situation in the South," he said. Saprang, an assistant secretary-general of the Council for National Security (CNS), mentioned the book during a meeting with Bangkok's 50 district chiefs at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration headquarters on Thursday. Stressing the need for security consciousness, he told the meeting that the British police had uncovered a book in Thai on terrorism in Bangkok. Saprang explained that the book had been found long ago. Its content was "like a warlord's comprehensive handbook" and, most importantly, had nothing at all to do with the bomb attacks on New Year's Eve, he said. Saprang said his mention of the book was not a response to rumours of terror attacks in Bangkok in the near future. "It is a fact. The book really was uncovered, but nothing inside it can be revealed. Everything is confidential," he added. CNS secretary-general General Winai Phattiyakul dismissed the rumours. He said he had not talked to Saprang about his revelation but would phone him soon to discuss the matter.
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