Thai Prime Minister Mr Thaksin Shinawatra today said he accepted US investigators' findings that there was no evidence a bomb destroyed a Thai Airways jet in March.
But he said although it appeared likely the near-disaster was an accident and not the result of sabotage, a final conclusion would not be made until the official investigation ended in a year's time.
The Boeing 737 belonging to Thai Airways International blew up on March 3rd while sitting at a gate at Bangkok's domestic airport, killing a flight attendant.
The United States' National Transportation Safety Board said no trace of explosives had been found in the wreckage of the plane that blew up just minutes before Mr Thaksin and his son were to board.
"Although a final report has not yet been issued, the FBI has found no evidence of high explosives in any of the samples tested to date," it said in a statement yesterday.
Tests performed on the wreckage in Thailand detected RDX, a by-product of C-4 plastic explosive, sparking a huge search for the "bomber" responsible for planting the device.
But US investigators concluded the initial explosion went off in the plane's centre wing tank in hot weather, with outside temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius.
AFP