Thai leaders said yesterday they were investigating security videotapes of suspects carrying out the New Year's blasts in Bangkok, and dismissed fears of a new coup as rumors spread by unnamed soldiers and police implicated in the bombings.
Rumors of a coup have spread through the capital, with some speculating that supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra could try to retake power and others citing a possible move within the military against the civilian government it installed less than four months ago.
"Security forces and intelligence sources have confirmed that the coup rumors were spread by the groups of people linked to the New Year's bombs. They aim to create a state confusion and chaos," interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont told reporters yesterday.
"The investigators have concluded that the bombers were men in uniform, both green and khaki," Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtas said, referring to the uniforms worn by military and police services.
Warning that the country should be prepared for more violence, Surayad said police had recovered two security videotapes of some of the bombers.
The string of eight small bombs on Sunday killed three people and wounded nearly 40 as the Thai capital celebrated the New Year.
One of the tapes, seen by a reporter, showed the back of the head of a man with closely cropped hair who dropped something and then walked away. Police said the tape was recorded by security cameras at one of the bomb attack sites, in Nonthaburi on the northern outskirts of Bangkok.
Authorities have not released the other tape to the press.
Army commander General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, who led the takeover of Thaksin's government in September and now heads the military's Council for National Security, called the reports of another coup "impossible" in an interview on Thai television.
Colonel Sansern Chaengkamnerd, a council spokesman, also told reporters on Thursday that the coup rumors were baseless.
"There have been transfers of troops but it is for the purpose of providing security in Bangkok," he said.
There has been a marked increase in the number of troops on the streets of Bangkok and at airports, and bus and train stations, since the Sunday night bombings.
It remained unclear who was behind the attacks, although the military has suggested that Thaksin supporters in the military and police have been trying to destabilize the country in a bid to take back power.
The former prime minister has denied involvement.
There has also been speculation that the military may be dissatisfied with the performance of the interim civilian government it installed after the coup, and may prefer to take complete power for itself rather than work behind the scenes.
Sondhi denied the military council was responsible for the bombings.
"I have risked myself to do what the people wished. Why should I do that?" he said in a TV interview.
"I love my people and my country," he said.
The interim government, which is supposed to relinquish power after an election expected later this year, has drawn criticism for failing to solve several major problems, including an Islamic insurgency in the south and the rising value of Thailand's currency, which has hurt exports.
The failure to restore peace in the south and the Bangkok bombings raised fears that the insurgency may be spreading north from the country's three southernmost, Muslim-dominated provinces.
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