Thai police have now charged five soldiers in connection with a plot to blow up Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that critics and the media have suggested was a political stunt, one of their lawyers said yesterday.
News of the charges came just hours before another fake bomb was found in Bangkok, this time in front of the parliament.
Police briefly cordoned off the road after a suspicious plastic bag was discovered by a street sweeper on the pavement in front of parliament.
The bag was later found to contain firecrackers, police commander Colonel Chakri Phupansri said.
Fake explosives were found outside Thaksin's house last week.
The five soldiers have been indicted over an alleged car bomb plot to kill Thaksin on Aug. 24.
The latest suspects are four soldiers who are all on active duty. They have been charged with attempted premeditated murder of Thaksin and several other people, illegal possession of explosives and weapons, and document forgery, lawyer Prapass Kongmuang told reporters.
The fifth soldier, Lieutenant Thawatchai Klinchana, who was arrested on Aug. 24 with explosives in his car near Thaksin's Bangkok home, is facing the same charges.
Thawatchai and the four -- a major-general, colonel, lieutenant-colonel and sergeant-major -- are all linked by police to the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), a shadowy agency run by the military during the Cold War to eliminate communists.
Thawatchai was a driver for ISOC deputy director General Pallop Pinmanee, sacked by Thaksin immediately after the incident, which coincided with the start of campaigning for an Oct. 15 general election.
Pallop professed his innocence, saying he could not have been behind the plot because if he had, Thaksin would be dead.
Thawatchai and one of the other suspects are already in custody. The remaining three have been ordered to appear for questioning tomorrow morning or face arrest.
Differing police accounts of the size, complexity and readiness of the bomb they say was found in the car sparked media suggestions that the plot had been staged to bolster Thaksin's support in the provinces.
The tycoon-turned-politician called a snap election in April to counter a Bangkok-based campaign against him. However, a poll boycott by the main opposition parties rendered the election inconclusive and courts later annulled it.
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