Police: Bangkok bombing suspect 'confesses'

Police in Thailand reported Monday that a suspect they named as Yusufu Mierili, who had been arrested last Tuesday near the Thai border with Cambodia, had confessed to possessing illegal explosives.

"We have informed him of the charge. He acknowledged and confessed to the charge," news agency AFP reported Thai police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri as telling reporters.

Although the nationality of Mierili, whose name authorities have also spelled as Mieraili and Meerailee, has not been confirmed, police have said he was carrying a Chinese passport which listed his place of birth as Xinjiang, home to the Uighur Muslim minority which has long reported facing persecution in China.

In total, authorities have so far issued 11 arrest warrants for suspected involvement in the attack which killed more than 20 people and left more than 120 wounded. The August 17 attack saw a bomb rip through the Erawan shrine, a popular foreign tourist destination. It was the worst act of violence Bangkok had seen in decades.

The motive of the alleged bombers has not been set out by police, nor has any group claimed responsibility. One of the theories put forward is that the attack may have been to avenge the forced repatriation by Thailand of 109 ethnic Uighurs to China in July. Many Uighurs seek to move to Turkey via Southeast Asia and some nationalists in Turkey hold a deep affinity with the ethnic minority. Evidence seized by Thai authorities so far includes dozens of Turkish passports, which police believe may be fakes.

se/jr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)