Thai politician arrested after 8 years in hiding

BANGKOK (AP) - Thai police have arrested a fugitive politician who disappeared eight years ago after being convicted of hiring a gunman to kill a rival.

Police Lieutenant General Pongpat Chayaphan said on Wednesday that 75-year-old Somchai Khunpleum was arrested in a car while traveling out of Bangkok to his hometown of Chonburi in eastern Thailand.

Somchai is the father of current Culture Minister Sonthaya Khunpleum.

The Supreme Court sentenced him to 25 years imprisonment in 2004 for conspiring in the murder of a political opponent.