MFA denies release of detained Thai students in Pakistan

BANGKOK, June 13 (TNA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies media reports that four detained Thai students in Pakistan have been released. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sek Wannamethee, who is also Director-General of the ministry's Department of Information, told journalists on Saturday (Jun 13) that the Thai Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, has not yet received a confirmation from the Pakistani government that four out of five Thai students were released, as reported by the media. The spokesman said the Thai Embassy to Pakistan is coordinating with the Pakistani authorities and monitoring the situation closely. The five Thai students were apprehended near midnight on June 8 by Lahore International Airport's officials, after one of them was found carrying a 9mm pistol and cartridges before boarding a flight home. In a related development, police and Muslim religious leaders in Songkhla Province in the Thai Far South visited family members of a detained Thai student in Pakistan who reportedly the owner of the pistol to boost their morale. The student's mother told the police and Muslim religious leaders that she believes her son is not the owner of the gun and her son was due to return home to observe the upcoming Ramadan fasting. (TNA)