The Hindu : Thai held for possession of nuclear material

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 15, 2003

International

International

Thai held for possession of nuclear material

BANGKOK JUNE 14. Working closely with U.S. agents, police in Thailand arrested a man who was trying to sell them radioactive material that could be used to make ``dirty bombs.''

Police did not say if the man was suspected of having terrorist connections, and U.S. officials said the material was not destined for weapons against Americans, as originally suspected.

Thai police met Narong Penanam (44), in the parking lot of a Bangkok hotel on Friday, where he gave them a metal container that he said contained uranium, police Col. Pisit Pisutisak said. Narong — who said he got the material from neighbouring Laos and that his contacts there had more — was expecting to sell it for $240,000.

An analysis of the material revealed it was not uranium but the industrial material cesium-137, suitable for making dirty bombs, which spread radioactive chemicals over a wide area.

Narong was charged with illegal possession of nuclear materials, punishable by up to a year in prison. The arrest came after three alleged Islamic terrorists were arrested this week in southern Thailand.— AP

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