The New York Times on Sunday published a front page article that claimed Abu Zubaydah, an Osama bin Laden henchman, was interrogated and tortured in a "safe house" in Thailand in the spring of 2002.

The article, citing "sources from a number of government agencies," said Zubaydah died of infected wounds in Thailand.

Thai Foreign Ministry's spokesman Kitti Wasinondh on Monday reiterated, WWe have denied any rumours or any information indicating that secret prisons were allowed in Thailand."

US President George W Bush acknowledged last week that the CIA had operated secret prisons abroad as part of the "war of terror."

This is not the first time that Thailand is reported to be used as a detention for terrorists. The Washington Post in November last year reported that the CIA was operating secret prisons in eight countries abroad, including in Afghanistan and Thailand and several European countries.

Thai Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra flatly denied the claim last year. He said in November last year Thailand had only one (terrorist) arrest, that was Hambali, and we sent him to the US long ago, and we don't have any secret jails or whatever, so we totally deny it.

In 2003 Thai authorities arrested Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, in the central province of Ayutthaya.

Hambali, is believed to be al-Qaeda's point man in Asia and one of the masterminds behind the Bali bombing of October 2002 that killed 202 people.

The Nation