KUALA LUMPUR – An Iranian arrested in Kuala Lumpur after a botched bomb plot in Thailand had travelled to Malaysia several times and authorities were investigating the visits, a security source said Friday.
Malaysian officials have said Masoud Sedaghatzadeh was arrested at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport Wednesday as he sought to leave the country for Iran. He had arrived the day before on a flight from Thailand.
He is suspected of being involved in Tuesday’s bomb incident, which has seen two other Iranians charged in Thailand and led to Israeli accusations that Iran was behind an international terror campaign.
Malaysian police have found that Sedaghatzadeh had entered the country several times since last year, said the government security source, who is familiar with the case but spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We are now interrogating him to see if there is any local connection,” he told AFP.
Sedaghatzadeh has told Malaysian authorities he is an automotive parts dealer and had travelled to Malaysia, Thailand, and elsewhere in the region on business, the source said.
Thailand has said it would seek Sedaghatzadeh’s extradition, but the security source said Malaysia had yet to receive a formal request, and added that the extradition process could take several weeks.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the extradition process depended on the Thai authorities’ request and Malaysia was “prepared to cooperate fully in…
