An "al-Qaeda" video posted on YouTube making death threats against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was staged in hope of toppling the government, Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok said on Monday.
A file photo of Pol Gen Pracha Promnok. The Deputy Prime Minister said on Monday that an "al-Qaeda" YouTube vidoe making death threats against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was staged in hope of toppling the government. (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
Pol Gen Pracha, who oversees national security, said those who made the video hold opposing political views to the government.
The video was uploaded outside Thailand, so the authorities would find it difficult to catch the perpetrators, he said. He said it was not uploaded in Malaysia, but in another country, which he declined to name.
"It's impossible that Thai politics is linked with al-Qaeda. The video makers want to discredit and bring down the government and don't want to see peace in the country.
"The people in the video are not al-Qaeda members. If they were, they would not show their faces, and the audio is not in sync with the video," said the deputy premier.
"We have some information about the men in the video and if we have enough evidence we'll take legal action against them.
"We know the video was staged because we work with foreign intelligence units, not foreign terrorist groups."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for handling any issues between Thailand and other countries, Pol Gen Pracha added.
The two-minute, 45-second video is entitled "al-Qaeda video against former Thailand Prime Minister" and was uploaded on Saturday.
The English language commentary included threats to kill Thaksin, "to avenge the killing of Muslims in the South in 2004". It referred to the killings at Tak Bai district town while Thaksin was premier. "You have killed our Muslim brothers in Tak Bai, south Thailand," the video stated.
"We will get you any time, anywhere in the world," said the speaker.
Southern militants have denied any connections with al-Qaeda or similar foreign terrorist groups.