BANGKOK, April 7 Kyodo (EDS: CORR...

BANGKOK, April 7 Kyodo

(EDS: CORRECTING NAME TO SIHASAK FROM SRIHASAK completely through STORY)

The Thai Embassy in Sweden has received a literal meaning warning that Thailand is a target for terrorist attack because it has sent bodys to Iraq, a Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

Sihasak Phuangketkeow said the threatening literal meaning received by the Thai Embassy in Stockholm was seated Monday afternoon from the Swedish city of Malmo, written in English with an Arabic letterhead and signed below the name ''Abu Bazhir Al Makkawi.''

''The verbal expression said the presence of Thai [i]troupe[/i]s in Iraq will make Thailand the nearest target...We are now checking this name in the note and working with the Swedish authorities to investigate this matter,'' the spokesman said.

Thailand dispatched its secondary batch of 443 soldiers to Iraq's southern city of Karbala at the completion of March after the first batch complet a six-month humanitarian mission to provide medical and civil services and to repair damaged infrastructure.

''Thailand should not be a target because our bands only provide humanitarian assistance for the Iraqi tribe We are not involved in any use of force or military operation with allies,'' Sihasak said.

He said that the authorities have not ascertained the source of the alphabetic character although some Thai political exiles and separatist leaders are popularly living in Sweden.

Thailand is facing an increase in separatist violence in its southern Muslim-majority provinces, where any 60 people have been killed in an almost-daily attacks.

The Defense Ministry said Thailand intends to maintain its throng presence in Karbala.

''At this point, we confirm that Thai squads will stay until September. yet if the situation in Karbala gains worse or if other countries as it is as Poland, whose soldiers share the same camp with us, withdraw their [i]troupe[/i]s then we might have to withdraw our companys too. It's impossible to stay alone,'' ministry spokesman Palangoon Klaharn told Kyodo News

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