SAMUT SAKHON, Jan 16 -- Lebanese-born Swedish national Atris Hussein, suspected as a terrorist, was charged Monday afternoon with possessing explosive chemicals linked to a terror plot after the substances, which could be used to make explosives, were discovered in a building in this suburban province adjacent to the Thai capital.

National police chief Pol Gen Prewpan Dhamapong said the suspect and the seized chemicals -- a large amount of urea fertiliser and ammonium nitrate solution -- were sent to the Royal Thai Police Bureau. The suspect is subject to further prosecution under the Arms Control Act of having the chemicals without Defence Ministry permission.

The punishment can be as much as five years in prison, a fine up to Bt50,000, or both.
 
According to Mr Hussein, the building was used only to store the chemicals, but not to produce explosives. A terror plot was not planned for Thailand, he said, but the country was being used as a transit site to distribute the materials for making bombs abroad, but the location was not disclosed by the Thai authorities.
 
About 200 metropolitan police bomb disposal and forensic experts on Monday morning led Mr Hussein to search the building. The man was detained Friday after the US embassy in Bangkok issued a terrorist threat alert for the capital.

The building owner is being sought for further questioning for alleged involvement in possessing explosive mixtures without permission, Pol Gen Prewpan said. He promised that no terrorism would happen in Thailand.

The police chief urged the public not to panic saying the authorities are monitoring the situation round the clock. According to the initial investigation, the building was rented since the beginning of last year.

Applying international practice, Mr Hussein was detained and questioned.

With suspected links to Hezbollah, a militant political party in Lebanon, was apprehended for questioning on Friday at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport under the immigration law, which allows for a 60-day detention, while he was leaving Thailand on the same day as the US embassy in Bangkok issued a terrorist threat warning for the capital.

Meanwhile, Bangkok's Suan Dusit Poll released on Monday found that 57 per cent of respondents questioned the government's security readiness against terrorism, while 68 per cent said they would nonetheless cooperate with the government to monitor or report the situation if experiencing any abnormality.

The survey was conducted Jan 14-16 among 1,098 people living in Bangkok and surrounding provinces following the US embassy's warning on a terror threat to the Thai capital. (MCOT online news)