The Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) has placed bounties on the heads of five southern provincial governors, their deputies, local leaders and senior police, a security source said.

The payments are being offered in retaliation for rewards the government is offering for 46 separatists.

The bounty announcement first appeared on the Pulo website on Nov 21, a few days before Pattani deputy governor Sunthorn Ritthipakdi was shot and wounded in Yaring district.

The government insisted the shooting was an accident.

Pulo is offering 90,000 baht for Pattani governor Saner Chantra, Narathiwat governor Pracha Terat or Yala governor Boonyasit Suwannarat; 60,000 baht for Songkhla governor Somporn Chaibangyang, and 45,000 baht for Satun governor Manit Wattanasen. Deputy governors and assistant governors in those provinces attract a 35,000 baht reward.

Pulo said it would pay 25,000 baht for a police captain and 30,000 baht for a police major or higher, and 24,000 baht for district chiefs and their assistants.

The website mentioned Swiss-based Lukman bin Lima as supreme commander of Pulo.

Five Islamic religious teachers in Betong district of Yala were taken in for questioning yesterday. Two were later released, and the other three were being held at a military camp in Pattani.

The raid on Ban Than Mali, in Betong, followed reports militants had meetings there with religious teachers from tadika schools suspected of involvement in the Jan 7 attack on Aiyerweng police station.

Also in Yala, a 73-year-old woman was shot in the leg at a rubber plantation on Wednesday and a Muslim religious teacher was shot and killed while travelling home in tambon Patae on a motorcycle.

In Narathiwat, Abdulmanas Sama, 36, was shot twice and seriously wounded while riding his motorcycle home along a road in Ban Joh Koh, Cho Airong district, about 10pm on Wednesday.

The head of the Chularatchamontri's public relations office, Samarn Korpitak, said yesterday 50,000 Muslims will pray for peace at mosques in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat on Dec 4.

He said they would recite ''hayad'' prayers.

This is one day before 62 million paper peace cranes folded throughout the country are due to be air-dropped over the three border provinces.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/26Nov2004_news06.php

Shouldn't this topic be moved to the Jobs, business forum?

Shouldn't this topic be moved to the Jobs, business forum?

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