Murders, Bombs Strike At Peace Talks: Thai South

[webfact]

SOUTH CRISIS

Murders, bombs strike at peace talks

Don Pathan

The Nation

PATTANI: -- The targeted killing of a well-respected imam and a brutal response from the insurgents have taken a toll on already fragile secret peace talks between the government and the exiled Patani Malay separatist leaders.

A scheduled November 28 meeting, supposed to be a follow up from the March 2012 meeting between a group of about 17 separatist leaders and Pheu Thai Party de facto leader Thaksin Shinawatra had to be postponed.

Another blow to the Thai government was a strongly worded resolution from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) over the handling of the conflict in the deep South.

Leaders of the long-standing separatist movements said Thailand could not talk about peace, while at the same time turning a blind eye to the targeted killings of Abdullateh Todir - an imam of a community mosque in Tambon Patae, an extremely red-zone area in Yala's Yaha district - and a senior member of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate (BRN-C), an organisation that continued to boycott meetings with Thai authorities.

Abdullateh was shot dead on November 14 as he was driving to see his wife at a hospital in Yaha district. An attempt on Abdullateh's life last year ended in the death of his daughter, who took the bullet in her forehead as the imam dodged the gunfire just in time. One reading by a BRN-Coordinate operative is that while the military wanted Abdullateh alive - because they believed they could use him to talk to the separatist movement - other security agencies saw him as a prime target. "Everybody, it seems, has their own agenda," said a senior imam in Narathiwat who has been sent to talk to the separatist leaders.

Exiled leaders also blamed pro-government death squads for the shooting death of Mahama Ma-ae, a Muslim teacher from the Thamvithya Mulniti Islamic School in Yala, on October 30.

A source in the police department said authorities searched Mahama's house in Pattani's Yarang district on several occasions but could find no evidence to convict him. But the police still suspected him of being part of the insurgency movement.

The killings of Abdullateh and Mahama went relatively unnoticed by the Thai media but the retaliation from the militants was swift and deadly.

Exiled sources in the separatist movement pointed to the motorcycle bomb in Yala on November 17 that killed one and injured more than 30, a blitz on the Raman Police Station on November 22, an attack on a train bogey with security officials on November 18, and the shooting death of a school director in Pattani's Nong Chik on November 22 as to how the militants had retaliated.

The secret talks with the exiled leaders are expected to continue and the violence will go ahead to prevent the process from being a smooth one. The so-called peace talks are being spearheaded by Thawee Sodsong, head of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC).

Previously, Thawee was using Wadah politicians to do his leg- work to help pave the way for the March 2012 meeting. But the militants on the ground did not approve of the meeting and launched a devastating triple car-bomb attack in Yala, as well as an attack on a major hotel in Hat Yai.

Since then, Thawee has been approaching religious leaders, people with more credentials in the eyes of the separatists. Exiled leaders said that while the switch was wise, the situation was beyond the control of these religious leaders.

-- The Nation 2012-12-04

[tragickingdom]

The last thing i would be worried about is a strong worded statement from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, they are pretty mute when their Muslims friends murder entire villages, women and children. Islamic organizations have no credibility at all. I would be worried about the army, at the cradle of the mass murder at a Mosque a few years ago stood a coup taker. 5800 People have been murdered tens of thousands have been maimed since the first term of Chuan. Since than not one army leader has been able to stop the violence. It is quite perceivable that the army is behind a lot of those attacks themselves. After all they never seem to be able to catch even one bomb maker, not even by accident at a roadblock. Ask the drugs traffickers in Northern Thailand how unlikely that is. The Thai army has no interest at all solving the problem. If they do, they would have to surrender billions of dollars in funding, it is no coincidence that the Thai army bears a lot of resemblance to Napoleon's army in which there are no soldiers left after they got promoted to the status of General or Officer.

For the ultra nationalists it is convenient to blame Thaksin, his mother, his unborn child or his housekeeper, but the real reasons lay with the Democrat Party, it is their heartland, and they do everything to frustrate the capture of those responsible. Only in the minds of democrats people in small communities really do not know who the culprits are. Maybe the Israelis can help them out....

[whybother]

The last thing i would be worried about is a strong worded statement from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, they are pretty mute when their Muslims friends murder entire villages, women and children. Islamic organizations have no credibility at all. I would be worried about the army, at the cradle of the mass murder at a Mosque a few years ago stood a coup taker. 5800 People have been murdered tens of thousands have been maimed since the first term of Chuan. Since than not one army leader has been able to stop the violence. It is quite perceivable that the army is behind a lot of those attacks themselves. After all they never seem to be able to catch even one bomb maker, not even by accident at a roadblock. Ask the drugs traffickers in Northern Thailand how unlikely that is. The Thai army has no interest at all solving the problem. If they do, they would have to surrender billions of dollars in funding, it is no coincidence that the Thai army bears a lot of resemblance to Napoleon's army in which there are no soldiers left after they got promoted to the status of General or Officer.

For the ultra nationalists it is convenient to blame Thaksin, his mother, his unborn child or his housekeeper, but the real reasons lay with the Democrat Party, it is their heartland, and they do everything to frustrate the capture of those responsible. Only in the minds of democrats people in small communities really do not know who the culprits are. Maybe the Israelis can help them out....

Obviously you need to do a bit of reading. The problems in the south go back a LONG time before Chuan.

http://religionconflictpeace.org/volume-3-issue-2-spring-2010/conflicts-and-peace-initiatives-between-minority-muslims-and-thai

[ttelise]

The nut baggers will always have some excuse for their violence and indiscriminate targeting of innocent civilians. Truth is they are losers who can find no other purpose in life than to cause terror, kill and mame. They derive satisfaction out of acts normal civilized human beings regard as inhuman. Unfortunately, these whack jobs understand one language and that language has no relation to diplomacy. The choice is rather bleak, take them out as US has had to resort to doing or continue to let them kill and mame innocent victims whom they apparently envy.

A good start to getting on right path would be to stop publishing bs articles like this that does nothing but empower nut bags, cause public confusion and perpetuate the problem.

Edited December 4, 2012 by ttelise

[nakhonandy]

If people study terrorism in a wider sense it is clear that the majority of "cannon fodder" for the militants are generally poorly educated and brainwashed by the so called enlightened leaders.

The army tend to get paranoid and react OTT.

The only way to achieve peace is via dialogue. However this means both sides truely wish to achieve peace!

Sadly this seems not to be the case in the South.