BRN halts peace talks on Thailand’s South

[Lite Beer]

BRN halts peace talks on Thailand’s South
By English News

BANGKOK, Aug 8 – The Muslim militant group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) has announced an indefinite suspension of peace dialogues with the Thai government, Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok said today.

Mr Pracha, who is in charge of national security, said the Malaysian facilitator has informed the Thai government that the peace talks would be halted until Thailand could give a clear explanation to the BRN’s five-point demand, earlier submitted to the Thai delegation.

The National Security Council (NSC), which has led the Thai security team to the past three rounds of talks with BRN leaders in Kuala Lumpur, will call an urgent meeting with agencies in charge of strategy on southern border provinces next week to discuss the matter.

Prime Minister/Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra tentatively will chair the meeting, Mr Pracha said.

The deputy premier said the BRN group which called off the peace talks in a YouTube video network announcement, stood firm that negotiations would be the best solution to the southern problem.

Without peace dialogues, the government will have to rely solely on military operations, he said, which is not beneficial to the region and could negatively impact the morale of people in the south. He insisted that peace dialogues should continue to end the conflict in a manner acceptable to all parties.

Mr Pracha blamed other militant groups, rather than the BRN, for the recent murder of Muslim religious leader Yacob Raimanee in Pattani province, saying that the assassination was intended to discredit the peace talks.

Police should issue arrest warrants for suspects in the murder very soon, he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa made no comment when asked by the media about the BRN’s announced suspension of the peace talks.

He said he was not assigned by the prime minister/defence minister to give an interview saying “I’ll talk only when I’m assigned to.”

It was the first time Gen Yuthasak talked to the media, though very briefly, after a controversial clip of his alleged conversation with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was publicised.

Former deputy interior minister Thaworn Senneam, also a Democrat MP from Songkhla, threw his support to peace talks in solving chronic problems in Thailand’s deep South but called on the government to change the Thai delegation in the dialogues.

He said the BRN representatives who attended the first three rounds of talks were, in fact, unwilling to sit down with the Thai authorities but were rather pressured by Malaysia to join the talks.

The BRN representatives,he explained, lack power and they are not the people holding the authority within the group, he said. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-08-08

[webfact]

Rebels threaten to quit Thai peace talks

BANGKOK, August 8, 2013 (AFP) - Rebels in Thailand's Muslim-majority south have threatened to quit peace talks with the government, as bloodshed during a Ramadan ceasefire dampened hopes of an end to years of fighting.

In a video posted on the YouTube website, three rebels wearing balaclavas and combat gear and holding automatic weapons said the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) -- one of several militant groups -- would withdraw from the talks.

"The Thai occupiers have committed betrayal, violence, lied and slandered the Pattani people," one of them said, in the video posted Tuesday and confirmed by sources close to the talks Thursday.

Pattani is one of several provinces in the south, where some 5,700 people have been killed since the insurgency flared in 2004. Rebels also use the word to refer to the whole deep south region.

Rounds of talks in Malaysia between Thai authorities and some rebel groups, including the BRN, had raised tentative hopes of peace. A ceasefire, supposed to last from July 10 to August 18 to mark the Islamic holy month, initially appeared to hold.

But rebel attacks began again after a few days, with local observers recording 29 deaths during Ramadan which ended Wednesday.

In the clip, rebels said Thai authorities had failed to meet the conditions of the negotiations, without detailing their complaints.

It was not possible to verify who the rebels in the clip represent. But an official involved in the talks said they were from BRN, which has shown signs of internal division recently.

The official said the video was an attempt to press Thailand to meet the BRN's five key demands, which include releasing prisoners and recognising it as a liberation movement.

"It sounds like there won't be any more talks, but actually that's not the case," the official said, requesting anonymity.

"Once the BRN is satisfied, they will continue the dialogue."

Talks between the government and representatives of the BRN began on March 28 but have so far failed to halt near-daily violence, raising questions about the rebel group's influence over increasingly violent grassroots insurgents.

The clip may raise pressure on Hassan Taib, the BRN's lead negotiator, who has been challenged to prove he can control the violence in the mainly Muslim and Malay-speaking south.

"The clip is the work of people who disagree with Taib and want to stop negotiations," Thai army negotiator General Nipat Thonglek told AFP, playing down its significance.

"It will not affect negotiations... the talks must continue," he said.

Conflict monitors DeepSouth Watch told AFP that 29 people were killed in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces during the Ramadan ceasefire -- 15 civilians and 14 members of Thailand's security forces.

Among the dead was Imam Yacob Raimanee of the Pattani Central Mosque, a key voice in favour of ending the bloody insurgency, who was shot dead on Monday.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-08-08

[ChrisY1]

Good to see all's going well here.....with such experienced people on board, I would'nt expect any less!!!

[FireMedic]

Head in the sand cowards vs hard line extremists..... Just keep moving, nothing to see here...

[moe666]

I would venture to say one group got tired of talking into the mirror

[jbrain]

Rebels in Thailand's Muslim-majority south have threatened to quit peace talks with the government, as bloodshed during a Ramadan ceasefire dampened hopes of an end to years of fighting.

Excuse my ignorance but weren't it the insurgents that killed some people during their own ramadan ceasefire ?

I have the perfect solution to the problem, but posting it here would get me banned i'm afraid.

[rametindallas]

It seems the terrorists have more sense, to see this is going nowhere, than the Thai government. It was all 'window dressing' anyway. There was no sincerity on either side and no desire to compromise (not that I think compromise is good), IMHO, the only way to defeat people who cowardly plant bombs, kill teachers, rubber planters, and children is to seek them out and take away their life's breath.

[surangw]

peace talks = stalling time to re arm, and make plans for more terr acts

[northernjohn]

If they were having peace talks this would indicate that the BRN were not actively participating in terrorist activities. Yet the number of attacks did not go down.

I take that to mean they really are just trying to get out of the rat race with out punishment. They are tired of running and hiding and have no real voice for active terrorists. They just want the Thai government to forgive and forget their past actions. Sounds familiar.

They like Thaksin are just looking for a white wash job for them selves the rest of the country be damned.