Southern Situation ‘not Comparable To Beslan’

Southern situation ‘not comparable to Beslan’

BANGKOK: -- Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula today resisted suggestions that an incident similar to the recent school siege in the Russian town of Beslan could occur in Thailand’s southern border region, reiterating that the two situation were not comparable.

Referring to the siege in Beslan, in which over 300 people were killed, he said: “I am confident that incidents such as those in Russia will not occur easily (in Thailand). However, no one will be negligent”.

Nonetheless, he stressed that it would take time for the government to solve the region’s accumulated problems, where separatist tendencies had been compounded by religious fundamentalism.

He also noted that whereas in Beslan the insurgents had shown complete disregard for the victims, Thailand’s southern militants generally took care not to harm ordinary citizens, but instead tended to only target state officials.

Nonetheless, he admitted that the government was tired of having to fight with terrorists who held ‘strange’ ideas.

--TNA 2004-09-05