2 new suspects sought in Bangkok bombing

Thai police issued two new arrest warrants and released images on Monday of more suspects, a Thai woman and a foreign man of unknown nationality, in the widening investigation into Bangkok's deadly bombing two weeks ago.

During a televised statement, police broadcast a photograph of the woman's Thai identification card showing a young woman in a black headscarf and a sketch of the man whose nationality was unknown.

The development came after police arrested a man from an apartment in Bangkok's outskirts on Saturday and seized bomb-making equipment that included detonators, ball bearings and a metal pipe believed to be a bomb casing.

More bomb-making materials were discovered in a second apartment during a raid on Sunday in a nearby neighborhood, national police spokesman Prawuth Thavornsiri said on Monday. He said the second apartment, in a neighborhood known as Min Buri, was rented by the Thai woman identified as 26-year-old Wanna Suansun.

Prawuth described what police found as "important bomb-making materials such as gunpowder, urea-based fertilizer which can be used as explosive powder when mixed with other substances, a remote-controlled car with its controller which can be used as a detonator, nuts and bolts, small light bulbs and digital watches," among other things.

The man, whose face is shown in a police sketch with short brown hair and a light beard and mustache, is believed to have lived in the apartment, Prawuth said.

Arrest warrants were issued for both the woman and man on charges of possessing unauthorized explosives, Prawuth said.

Thailand's police chief announced on Monday he was handing his own officers a reward of 3 million baht ($84,000) for apprehending a man who has been charged in connection with this month's deadly Bangkok bomb blast.

Police General Somyot Poompanmoung held up the cash in tightly stacked notes, which he said would be distributed among his men following the arrest of the foreign man on Saturday.

"One million baht comes from me, the other 2 million baht came from my businessmen friends who do not want to be named," he told reporters at a news conference at police headquarters.

Saturday's arrest marked the first possible breakthrough in the investigation into the Aug 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine, which killed 20 people, more than half of whom were foreigners, and injured more than 120 others.

Much remains unknown about the suspect, including his nationality, his motive, his relationship to the alleged bombing network or if he was plotting an attack, Prawuth said, adding that another attack was "possible" because police found 10 detonators.

AP - AFP