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| Southeast Asia |
| Grenade blast hits near Thai bank |
| 2010-02-28 |
| Apparently not a jihadi attack but linked to the ongoing political struggle there. A bomb has exploded in front of the Bangkok Bank's headquarters, but no one was injured or killed, media reports have said. Police said a grenade exploded outside the building of Thailand's biggest bank, shattering the windows and doors but causing no casualties. A second unexploded grenade was found at another Bangkok Bank branch in the capital and removed by police, authorities said. Saturday's explosion follows a Supreme Court decision on Friday to confiscate $1.4bn of frozen bank assets belonging to Thaksin Shinawatra, the country's former prime minister, and his family on charges of abuse of power during his dual premiership between 2001 and 2006. Thaksin expressed disappointment with the verdict and vowed to fight back against the court order. "I haven't received justice and I will not give up," he said in a statement, pledging to continue a non-violent struggle for democracy and justice. "I will seek justice in every way and every opportunity possible." The nine judges in Thailand's supreme court said on Friday that Thaksin, who was forced from power by a coup in 2006, had used his position as premier to the benefit of his Shin Corp telecoms company. The court said that Thaksin had concealed shares in Shin Corp and geared several government telecom policies to favour the company. Thailand froze $2.3bn of Thaksin's assets after he was forced from power and convicted of graft in absentia. It was not immediately clear if the remaining assets, which the court found had been accumulated by Thaksin before he became prime minister, would be returned to him. |
| Posted by:Steve White |