300 Muslim Terrorists On

Thai PM dismisses reports of foreign terrorists' entry

www.chinaview.cn 2004-05-24 13:45:23

BANGKOK, May 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dismissed reports that 300 Muslim terrorists were planning to sneak across the border into the country's violence-plagued southernmost provinces, local press reported on Monday.

The prime minister said he had never received such a report from any intelligence agency.

"I think the report does not have a high reliability factor," he was quoted by newspaper The Nation as saying.

But he confirmed that all government agencies would be preparedfor any untoward accidents.

Local newspapers and TV stations on Sunday quoted local officials or intelligence sources as saying that they had receivedwarnings from Malaysia that 300 terrorists originally from Syria would cross the Thai-Malaysia border to help their fellow terrorists in the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

The three provinces, lying some 1,000 kilometers south of Bangkok, are home to most of Thailand's small pocket of Muslim. The region has witnessed separatists movement until late 1980's and been disturbed by sporadic violence created by gangsters sincethen.

The security situation in the region has deteriorated since early this year and violence targeting the government through the past five months killed about 200 people.

While the government first blamed separatists and then switched to interests groups, Mafia and corrupt politicians for the violence, there were concerns of possible infiltration of international terrorism.

The worry of international terrorism influence on local violence ran high when 7 insurgents, killed in an April 28 attacksagainst government, were found out not being Thai citizens and more reports of Buddhist temples fell into attack targets.

However, the Thai government vehemently denied there's any relations between religious conflicts and local unrest situation.

"The fact that I have not been informed shows that such reports have low reliability. Nevertheless, we should not be careless," Thaksin commented on the latest report.

He said that his government would improve passport verificationso as to prevent foreigners bearing fake passports from sneaking past southern border checkpoints.

The Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula also reportedly said he had ordered police and other government agencies in the three provinces to be on alert just in case terrorists did attempt to sneak in from Malaysia.

"This report has yet to be verified and it could be rumor," he added. Enditem

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