Atris' Swedish passport in doubt

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Atris' Swedish passport in doubt

Published: 18/01/2012 at 06:39 PM
Online news: Security

The government of Sweden cannot confirm that detained Lebanese Hezbollah terror suspect Hussein Atris is a Swedish national, Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Anders Jorle said in a report posted on the New York Times website.

There was some uncertainty about Atris' documents, the NY Times said. Thai authorities said he was travelling with two passports, one Lebanese and one Swedish.

Anders Jorle, a spokesman for the Swedish Foreign Ministry, said the Swedish passport had expired, despite an image of the main page of the passport circulating in the Thai media that appears to show expiration in 2015, the report said.

Swedish officials had asked to meet with Mr Atris. “We have not seen this person or met him,” Mr. Jorle said by telephone from Stockholm. "We cannot confirm whether he is a Swedish national."

The report also cites Bangkok as a major hub for passport counterfeiting, drug trafficking and other illicit activities. American officials say that Hezbollah does have a footprint here; using Bangkok as a centre for a cocaine and money-laundering network, according to the NY Times report.

Meanwhile, United States ambassador Kristie Kenney said on Twitter that the US will not revoke its warning to US nationals to beware of a "real and credible" threat of a terrorist attack in Bangkok.

Ms Kenney said the embassy had been in close touch with Thai authorities and that US citizens in Bangkok should avoid Khao San road and Sukhumvit soi 22.

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lazar
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Discussion 16 : 19/01/2012 at 10:00 AM16
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@D15: please tell what these desired Chinese and Asian tourists spend all their lovely holiday money on? Certainly not in the bars....which is Thailands biggest employers.
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ltexpat
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Discussion 15 : 19/01/2012 at 01:31 AM15
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I stand corrected US + Israeli Tourism accounts for 3.4% and falling .5% yearly.
TAT wants Chinese and Asian tourists, they have money to spend. The US is broke and will be so for a while.
If TAT is spending money on the US market, it is a waste. Ask Europe about declining US tourism numbers and Europe doesn't have travel warnings.
Thai Americans are not tourists and would not be put off by a US government warning not to return... home, insulted, I think not. ?

Thai's should be insulted that Foreign governments chose to ignore them and put out warnings, then tell them to go pick up this guy and then try and push joining their group so they will remove the warnings.

Push comes to shove and China will be Thailand's partner not the US. China will do it with trade and diplomacy where as US and Israel do it with threats and treating their partners as incompetent.
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nns
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Discussion 14 : 18/01/2012 at 11:32 PM14
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@bkkjosh 'I'm amazed how most expats distrust and critic thai authorities but buy in everything US has to say.'
It comes down to credibilty. If you've been in both the US and Thailand, you'll understand.
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rva
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Discussion 13 : 18/01/2012 at 11:23 PM13
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Josh, if it was an obvious setup, then why would the suspect lead authorities to a room full of fertilizer?

Let me translate what you said in Discussion #4: "The United States government maintains an ulterior motive in every single thing they say and every action they take. Therefore, the United States government warning its citizens in Thailand of a potential act terrorism MUST be for a reason OTHER than.... a potential act terrorism."

The US government has managed to screw a lot of things up, foreign policy wise. That doesn't mean that EVERYTHING is part of some evil plan. This is where your logic gets very very skewed. If the US government claimed that the sky was blue, would you call them liars? You say that this is an obvious setup? Use your rationale. This is obviously NOT a setup, no matter how much you hate the US.
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heartie
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Discussion 12 : 18/01/2012 at 10:39 PM12
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@itexpat, discussion 5, first of all, there is no 'ban' as you stated. It's a travel 'warning.' At least 11 embassies around the world issued similar warnings. Second of all, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has spent an absolute fortune to lure Americans into visiting Thailand, especially those with a six-figure income (or more). So losing those tourists is a loss to Thailand as the country is trying very hard to increase the number of tourists/year to 20 million, especially those with more money to spend. Thirdly, there are scores of Thai Americans living abroad who visit their families in Thailand every year; they would certainly view your comment as an offensive insult! Lastly, where did you come up with this 1% figure? I can promise you that American expats living in Thailand make up a far higher percent than that.
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bkkjosh
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Discussion 11 : 18/01/2012 at 10:15 PM11
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Discussion 5 [ltexpat]: 1% seems low, but agree. US claims that the 'attacks' were planned in bangkok, a 'major tourism hub' for israeli and citizens, specifically khao san road which is in fact a backpacker mecca, and I can tell you US citizens represent a very small percentage there (forget about the few israelis). I'm amazed how most expats distrust and critic thai authorities but buy in everything US has to say.
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koolbreez
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Discussion 10 : 18/01/2012 at 09:59 PM10
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With the statement no terrorist attack will ever happen here, and it is safe, this follows on the same line as why the tsunami warning system does not work when it was checked, as there will never be a tsunami here either. No need to worry, they have it under control as far as getting your money. Protecting your tourist life is another matter though.

I still find it amazing the Thai government made a statement they have been tracking these people for a year, so they must have known about the bomb materials all this time, and never said anything.
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lazar
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Discussion 9 : 18/01/2012 at 09:57 PM9
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The supreme commander must have forgotten about the 2 months of terrorism in the centre of Bangkok last year.
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moutai
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Discussion 8 : 18/01/2012 at 09:52 PM8
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@3 Can not be valid. My passport number is lower than his and was issued 3 months later than his "passport". My passport is also only valid for 5 years. Seems strange that he would get 10 years in his passport when they stopped issuing 10 year passports 2 months before I got mine. I guess the forgers missed that.........
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nitnoi
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Discussion 7 : 18/01/2012 at 09:33 PM7
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If Thai official has proved that Hazbellah has a footprinted in Thailand as US claimed, Thailand should deny these would be terrorists entry. The General said the past 10 year has not seen any terrorist incidents. Do not push your country's luck. It will luck out if it has government's priority fall into someother matters that benifit only small group of people who has strong ties with authority.If passport issued in 2005,it would be good until 2015. Why can't Swedish authority investigate how many passport issueed in 2005?. It could be ligit passport not fogeried one as Dis#2 Loomoo analized.
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