Peace Talks With B R N Thrown Into Limbo

[Lite Beer]

Peace talks with BRN thrown into limbo
Don Pathan
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Self-proclaimed Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate "liaison" officer, Hasan Taib, made a public statement through a video broadcast, demanding that Thailand unconditionally release all prisoners locked up on insurgency-related charges, and permit Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, non-governmental organisation, and Asean members to take part in the peace process.

Hasan also demanded that the role of the Malaysian government be upgraded from "facilitator" to "mediator".

He added that all pending charges against alleged separatists must be drop and that the Thai government, which he referred to as "Siamese colonialists", must acknowledge that BRN is a "liberation movement", not a "separatist movement".

"Everything he said derail the term of reference that Thailand had put in place when they signed the agreement to talk on February 28, 2013," said Human Rights Watch's Sunai Phasuk.

Sources in the long standing separatist movements, including BRN members not affiliated with Hasan, told The Nation that the video was Hasan's "exit strategy" from the peace process because he knows that he not able to influence the current generation of separatist militants on the ground. It was a way for him to "save his face" and "redeem" himself, they said.

They claimed that Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur had unnecessary took a big leap of faith by betting on Hasan without verifying if he actually has "command-and-control" on the ground.

Since the February 28, 2013 signing, Thailand and Hasan’s delegation have met once. The second meeting was scheduled to take place tomorrow, also in Kuala Lumpur.

The video was released on the eve of April 28, the anniversary of the Kru Se Mosque standoff between security forces and nearly 40 lightly armed insurgents who fortified themselves inside the historic mosque as they engaged in a lengthy gunfight until they were overpowered and killed.

On April 28, 2004, well over 100 young Malay Muslim militants simultaneously attacked ten police outposts and one station in the Malay-speaking southernmost provinces with little more than machete.

Survivors said they were members of a militant cell led by Ismail Yaralong, also known as Ustaz Soh, who inspired them to take up the suicidal mission. Ustaz Soh led them to believe that they were invincible through his mystical-leaning teaching. All the dead insurgents on that day were buried as martyrs in line with Islamic tradition.

-- The Nation 2013-03-28

[Locationthailand]

Thrown into limbo? Surprise surprise, especially as they are only one group of terrorists and they are not interested in their fellow terrorists benefits.

[bigbamboo]

Simply highlights what a farce that ridiculous agreement signing ceremony was.

[NongKhaiKid]

Simply highlights what a farce that ridiculous agreement signing ceremony was.

Tactics straight out of the Nth. Korean handbook, agree to talks then lay down impossible conditions.

[rubl]

Various possibilities here. Maybe just that the BRN is trying to save face as too many complained about this particular group trying to represent itself as important. Maybe they were just a bit annoyed when on the 10th of March theNation wrote "BRN trusts Thaksin for South peace initiative"
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/BRN-trusts-Thaksin-for-South-peace-initiative-30201617.html

[chainarong]

Simply highlights what a farce that ridiculous agreement signing ceremony was.

Tactics straight out of the Nth. Korean handbook, agree to talks then lay down impossible conditions.

I think you will find those were the conditions they set out, of course no one would agree to them, as the man said saving face or saving grace, they had no authority to talk peace in the first place.

[RickBradford]

Simply highlights what a farce that ridiculous agreement signing ceremony was.

Tactics straight out of the Nth. Korean handbook, agree to talks then lay down impossible conditions.

.. then agree to a compromise position.

Then renege on the conditions.

Then bomb some more citizens.

Then agree to some more talks and lay down impossible conditions.

Then ...

There is simply no point in negotiating with an opponent who regards negotiations as a zero-sum game, i.e. that if you get something you want, they must by definition have 'lost' something. The only way they are happy is if they get something for nothing, and the more you give it to them, the less they respect you, and the harder it is to deal with them next time around.

[seajae]

declare the brn a terrorist group and simply start shooting them all, problem solved, cannot understand why the thai govt are pussy footing around these murderers, just offer big rewards for them dead or alive, that will sort them out.

[DeeMaiDee]

Simply highlights what a farce that ridiculous agreement signing ceremony was.

Tactics straight out of the Nth. Korean handbook, agree to talks then lay down impossible conditions.

.. then agree to a compromise position.

Then renege on the conditions.

Then bomb some more citizens.

Then agree to some more talks and lay down impossible conditions.

Then ...

There is simply no point in negotiating with an opponent who regards negotiations as a zero-sum game, i.e. that if you get something you want, they must by definition have 'lost' something. The only way they are happy is if they get something for nothing, and the more you give it to them, the less they respect you, and the harder it is to deal with them next time around.

And Vice Versa

[noitom]

Thai are delusional about this. Totally self absorbed and oblivious to broad issues. This terrorist killing hotspot needs an international peacekeeping force. Thailand cannot handle its own affairs.

[waza]

"RN members not affiliated with Hasan, told The Nation that the video was Hasan's "exit strategy" from the peace process because he knows that he not able to influence the current generation of separatist militants on the ground. It was a way for him to "save his face" and "redeem" himself, they said."

Who said that this peace process was a farce and it will slowly dissolve after the Bangkok and Malaysian elections are over?

[webfact]

UPDATE
NSC rebuts BRN demands
Pakorn Puengnetr
Don pathan
The Nation

Paradorn rules out Malaysia as mediator; says no to OIC role

BANGKOK: -- National Security Council secretary general, Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut, went into a damage-control mode yesterday after Hasan Taib, the self-proclaimed "liaison" officer of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate (BRN-C) made public a list of demands that could derail the recently started talks on peace in the far South.

Paradon said he would raise the issues at today's dialogue with the so-called BRN-C representatives.

However, the NSC chief went on the record to dismiss the demand that the Malaysian government be given the role of "mediator", as opposed to "facilitator" for the peace process.

He was just as dismissive of Hasan's demand for the role of outsiders - Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Asean members, or foreign non-government organisations (NGOs) - being part of the dialogue process on the grounds that the conflict in the Muslim-majority southernmost provinces is an internal matter.



Hasan and his associates had the right to go public with these demands, he said. They include the release of all prisoners held on charges related to the ongoing insurgency, dropping all charges against suspected separatist militants, and recognising that BRN is not a "separatist" but a "liberation" movement.

Paradon tried hard to calm concern that the demands may jeopardise the talks because, according to Human Rights Watch's Sunai Phasuk, Hasan's demands effectively "derail the terms of reference that Thailand put in place when they signed the agreement to talk on February 28, 2013."

"Don't worry about these five demands. Everything has to be under the Constitution," said Paradon. "It's a good thing that they went online to make their demands because now we know what they want. And we are prepared to listen," he said.

Paradon left last night for Kuala Lumpur for today's meeting, the second round since the historic February 28 peace agreement. He said he would raise these issues with Hasan's camp at the meeting.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Paradon dodged a question about the demand to drop charges against suspected militants, saying a number of arrest warrants were made out for suspects who did not show up to meet officials to clear their name.

"Officials have no choice but to make out the warrants because they did not show up to meet the authorities when asked to do so. These are the things we have to look into and reconsider," Paradon said.

In the statement posted on YouTube yesterday, Hasan vowed to fight on against the Thai government who he referred to as "Siamese colonialists" until the area is liberated and added that all residents of Patani, the Malays' historical homeland that is now part of Thailand's southernmost provinces, will be treated justly and equally regardless of whether they are "Malay, Chinese or Siamese".

Sources in the longstanding separatist movements, including BRN Coordinate members not affiliated with Hasan's camp, told The Nation that the video was Hasan's "exit strategy" from the peace process because he knew he would be unable to influence the current generation of separatist militants on the ground.

It was a way for him to "save his face" and "redeem" himself, they said.

Members of these long-standing separatist movements accused Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur of luring Hasan into a peace process to serve their political aims. For Malaysia, being seen as a mediator would attract votes at the upcoming general election. And for Bangkok, it was a way to "whitewash" the de facto leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup on allegations that, among other things, he mishandled the conflict in the South.

They pointed out that Bangkok had never asked Hasan to verify that has "command-and-control" of militants on the ground.

Since the meeting on February 28, Thai delegates and Hasan's team have met once. The next meeting is scheduled to take place today, also in Kuala Lumpur.

Hasan's video was released on the eve of April 28, anniversary of the Krue Se Mosque stand-off between security forces and nearly 40 lightly armed insurgents who fortified themselves inside the historic mosque as they engaged in a lengthy gunfight until they were overpowered and killed.

On April 28, 2004, well over 100 young Malay Muslim militants simultaneously attacked 10 police outposts and one station in the fat South with little more than machetes.

Survivors said they were members of a militant cell led by Ismail Yaralong, also known as Ustaz Soh, who inspired them to take up a suicidal mission. Ustaz Soh led them to believe that they were invincible through his mystical-leaning teaching. All the dead insurgents on that day were buried as martyrs in line with Islamic tradition.

Tawee Sodsong, director of the Southern Border Provinces Adminstrative Centre, said he thought Taib's clip on YouTube was intended as a direct message to communicate with insurgents to slow down the violence.

The message also showed that he was willing in taking part in the peace dialogue, not against his will at the request of Malaysian authorities, as speculated by sceptics. He did not elaborate on the Malaysian authorities' part.


-- The Nation 2013-04-29

[rametindallas]

‘Hasan also demanded that the role of the Malaysian government be upgraded from "facilitator" to "mediator".’

This is rich, considering the Malaysian government is sponsoring the violence and the Thai government knows this.

"Everything he said derail the term of reference that Thailand had put in place when they signed the agreement to talk on February 28, 2013," said Human Rights Watch's Sunai Phasuk.

Now maybe the Thai government will realize you can’t negotiate with terrorists.

In the statement posted on YouTube yesterday, Hasan vowed to fight on against the Thai government who he referred to as "Siamese colonialists" until the area is liberated and added that all residents of Patani, the Malays' historical homeland that is now part of Thailand's southernmost provinces, will be treated justly and equally regardless of whether they are "Malay, Chinese or Siamese".

More proof that Malaysia is the sponsor and beneficiary of the violence.

[webfact]

Muslim militant group announces 5-point demands on eve of today’s peace talks
By English News



BANGKOK, April 29 – The Thai government is ready to discuss the latest Muslim demands made using a video message by southern insurgents who called for, among other demands, the unconditional release of insurgent suspects, a senior security official said.

The YouTube clip was released ahead of today’s second round of peace talks between the high-level Thai security team and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

National Security Council (NSC) Secretary General Paradorn Pattanathabut, who heads the Thai delegation, said the five-point demands made in the video clip would not jeopardise today’s peace dialogues.

He said he would ask the insurgnet representatives today if the demands were made by an individual or a group of people but talks will continue to jointly find peace for Thailand’s troubled far South.

“At least we know what they think and want. It’s a gesture of their willingness to talk, otherwise they would not issue the demands,” he said positively.

One of the demands called for the release of all Muslim detainees and arrest warrants for alleged separatists be dropped.

Lt-Gen Paradorn said the Thai authorities are willing to facilitate justice and proceed in accord with the judiciary system, insisting that today’s peace talks will carry on and the Thai team will renew its initial proposal on resolutions to violence in the South.

Abdulkarim Khalib of the BRN, who appeared in the video clip with Ustaz Hassan Taib, read the demands. He said Malaysia must be the mediator, and not facilitator, in the peace dialogues and other ASEAN members and non-government organisations should be involved in the peace process.

The peace talks must be between Thailand and the Pattani Malayu people, led by the BRN, he said, adding that the Thai government must accept the BRN as a liberation movement, not a separatist group.

An informed source said it is unlikely that the Thai security team will embrace the demands, especially the proposed release of all militant suspects and revocation of arrest warrants. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-04-29

[Pimay1]

An informed source said it is unlikely that the Thai security team will embrace the demands, especially the proposed release of all militant suspects and revocation of arrest warrants.

Snowball in hell comes to mind.

[rubl]

"five-point demands made in the video clip would not jeopardise todays peace dialogues"

Dialogue: to talk past each other as closely as possible?

[Robby nz]

The Thai government is ready to discuss the latest Muslim demands

How can we save face on this one?