Thailand seeks US help to find Bangkok bomber, raises reward
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand raised a reward Friday for tips leading to the arrest of the main suspect in Bangkok's deadly bombing and turned to the United States for help in tracking down those behind the attack that left 20 people dead.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he had received offers of assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and had assigned his deputy "to cooperate on borrowing equipment that includes facial-recognition technology."
Police were still searching Friday for the prime suspect seen in a security video dropping off a backpack near a bench at the site about 15 minutes before the blast, a day after clearing two other men seen in the video who were initially believed to be suspects.
National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung told reporters that police were looking for a woman wearing a black shirt who appeared in the footage, seated near the suspect.
On a police arrest warrant he is described as a "foreign man," although a military spokesman said Thursday that a connection to international terrorism seemed unlikely.
Doves were released into the sky Friday afternoon at the shrine, after a morning multi-religious prayer ceremony attended by Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim priests and representatives.