Thai police claim 'confession' of Bangkok bomber

Thailand's police authorities said at a press conference on Friday that they had sufficient evidence to convict a man claiming to be behind a deadly attack in Bangkok on Aug 27. The bombing, which took place at the Erawan Shrine, a famous Hindu place of worship in Bangkok, killed 20 people and injured more than 100.

Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said the man would face trial in court. His statements followed earlier local media reports claiming the suspect had confessed to the crime.

"From evidence police showed him, he accepted the crime," Prawut said.

The suspect's Turkish passport carries the name Bilal Muhammad, but authorities had also named him Adem Karadag.

In an interview with German news agency dpa, Choochart Khanphai, the man's lawyer, contested the police account. Choochart said that his client had arrived in Thailand on a fake passport several days after the bombing occurred.

However, the lawyer conceded that he had not seen his client since the police's claim, saying he had not been given access since Wednesday. According to Choochart, the suspect spent Wednesday sick in hospital, then was taken in for overnight interrogation.

Police: suspect arrested with bomb materials

Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri had said that Karadag was the first of two suspects arrested in Thailand in connection with the bombing, saying that the 30-year-old was in possession of bomb-making materials when he was caught.

Early on, authorities had focused their investigation on a man in a yellow shirt and wearing a backpack, captured in security camera footage at the shrine on the day of the bombing. At the press conference, Prawut seemed to suggest that the man in the yellow shirt was Karadag.

The police did not suggest a possible motive at the press conference on Friday. In the past, authorities speculated that the motive for the attack might have been connected to the Thai government's forcible repatriation of more than 100 Uighurs - a Muslim minority - to China.

The investigation has faced criticism for its inconsistencies. Earlier this week, Malaysian police arrested eight people, some of whom might have played a role in aiding the bomber across Thailand's southern border into Malaysia.

blc/msh (AFP, AP, dpa)