Ousted Thai PM denies any links to Bangkok bombs

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra denied suggestions by the military and his army-appointed successor he was linked to New Year's Eve bombs in Bangkok that killed three people and wounded 38.

In a letter faxed to media organizations from Beijing, where he is in exile after his removal in a September 19 coup, Thaksin accused the army-appointed government of jumping to conclusions by blaming "groups that have lost political powers."

Many Thais have interpreted that as meaning Thaksin.

"I swear I have never thought of hurting or destroying the happiness of the Thai people or spoiling the credibility of the country for my political goals," he said.

Amid fears the bombs presaged another turbulent year, the stock market -- Asia's worst performer last year -- fell more than 3 percent in its first trading day of 2007.

A police lieutenant-colonel before moving into business and then politics, Thaksin said his contacts within the force suggested the unprecedented blasts were the work of Muslim separatists from the Malay-speaking far south.

"I asked police about the materials and methods used. The bombs were probably the work of militants from the far south," he said in the handwritten letter. "I want to condemn the group that was behind the bombs in the strongest terms."

More than 1,800 people have been killed in three years of violence in the three southernmost provinces abutting Malaysia.

But the militants, who have not made their aims public and do not issue claims of responsibility, have never taken their campaign beyond the immediate region, a move that would represent a major escalation.

Security analysts said that even though there were some similarities between the types of bombs used, the wide geographical spread of the New Year blasts across the capital was markedly different from serial bomb attacks in the south.

"This has to be in some fashion linked to the former regime -- but that's such an enormous pool of people," said security analyst Brian Dougherty of Hill and Associates in Bangkok.

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