Muslims Plans To Seize Narathiwat Province

[george]

SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: Plan to seize province

Muslim insurgents had been conducting "training and recruitment" programmes in the South with plans to seize Narathiwat province "within 1,000 days" of the start of this year, Defence Minister Thamarak Issarangura said yesterday.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Thamarak revealed that insurgents responsible for last week's attack on an army base in Narathiwat had given themselves 1,000 days to take over the province and "plant their flag pole at Thaksin Rajanivej Palace" - referring to King Bhumibol Adulyadej's southern retreat.

The local community knew about the insurgents' activities but chose not to tell the authorities because they did not trust government officials, Thamarak told the Cabinet.

Differences of opinion and working style between police and the military had hampered the government's effort to root out the insurgents, he conceded.

"We knew that things were going to happen. We knew that they [militant groups] were recruiting and training people," he said.

In the Cabinet meeting, televised live for the first time yesterday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra lashed out at his ministers and security officials, accusing them of incompetence in their intelligence and security operations and not going after the rebels vigorously enough.

The fact that authorities in the South did not pursue the insurgents when they had knowledge of their activities suggested something was seriously wrong with the state machinery there, Thaksin said.

"The local residents know what has been going on but they chose to keep quiet because they don't trust the authorities. They don't trust the authorities because they [officials] don't engage them," said Thaksin, adding that the latest spate of attacks that ended in the death of four soldiers and two police officers was a "wake-up call" for the government.

Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said Musllims' resentment of the government dated back to past decades when authorities employed heavy-handed tactics against separatists, including the beheading of separatist leaders.

Upping the pressure on security agencies, Thaksin also said he had planted his own moles in the region to keep an eye on local officials.

He accused officials in the southernmost provinces of not spending their time and money wisely, saying too much had been spent on overheads instead of targets the money was intended for. He accused officials of having too much fun "signing documents" instead of spending time in the local community.

--The Nation 2004-01-14

[dr_Pat_Pong]

The ' insurgents ' might just find themselves surrounded by tanks with a few F16's overhead if they did that.

[The_Eye_Of_Sauron]

May I ask....

Does Thaivisa.com have to pay for articles it uses from the Nation? (Or Deutsche Presse etc etc)

[Nam Kao]

ANAMILS ! ALL OF THEM !

[singa-traz]

There was an article one/two days ago, about Malaysia, stating that they did not find any link with local "terrorist" group in the region (J.I), and the incidents. They knew who was possibly responsible ... but would not say who.

Here it is:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/16Jan2004_news08.html

...

And with this type of incidents, it would be difficult to justify a budget cut in the Army, for this part of Thailand ....

[Mango1919]

Does this activity affect other southern areas such as Phuket and Krabi?