Authorities in Malaysia say they have arrested three people in connection with last month's fatal bombing in Bangkok, Thailand.
Khalid Abu Bakar, the head of Malaysia's national police force, announced the arrests of a Pakistani man and two Malaysians - one of them a woman - at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur Monday. Bakar said the country has no plans to extradite the trio to Thailand.
"Not at the moment, not at the moment. We believe the suspects can help in the investigation of those involved in the Bangkok bombing. At the moment, I don't want to elaborate further on this case because the operation is still on[going]," said Bakar.
Bakar said his police force was working closely with Thai authorities in the investigation of the August 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine in the Thai capital, killing 20 people and wounding scores of others, many of them Chinese tourists.
Media reports have openly drawn a possible link between the bombing and Thailand's deportation in July of more than 100 ethnic Uighurs - Turkish-speaking Muslims from the remote Xinjiang region. The Uighurs have openly complained of harsh cultural and religious suppression as well as economic marginalization under Chinese rule.
Thai police have arrested three men in connection with the bombing. Investigators say one of them has admitted to handing a backpack containing a bomb to another man caught on video leaving it at the shrine moments before the explosion.
