Thai Govt, Army Underestimated Old Guards, Say Separatist Groups

[Jai Dee]

Thai Govt, Army Underestimated Old Guards, Say Separatist Groups

BANGKOK, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- A southern Thai separatist leader Friday claimed violence continued unabated because the new Government had grossly underestimated the Muslim militant old guards and did not seek their cooperation to end the conflict.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the leader said it was wrong to assume many of the separatist leaders, mostly living in exile, have no control over the hundreds of militants staging daily bombings and shootings.

"The Surayud Government is doing the right thing but using the wrong approach. We are ready to talk but the Government and the Army are ignoring us...they want to talk directly to the militants (armed wings and independent cells), but at the same time telling they were unsure who to negotiate with," he told Bernama when contacted at an undisclosed location.

Furthermore, he said, separatist groups were suspicious that the armed forces was delaying negotiations with armed groups to get more funding in the 2007 Budget. They have been allocated Bt115 billion, up by nearly 50 per cent than this year's budget.

He said it was pointless for Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's Government to wait for militants in the villages to come out from hiding to negotiate peace as they were not the planners but merely implementing the strategies mapped out by several groups involved in the conflict.

The leader said they were disappointed the Thai authorities failed to acknowledge the role that could be played by the old guards to end the unrest which had claimed the lives of more than 1,900 people since violence escalated in January 2004.

"During the talks with several separatist groups in Langkawi, the old guards told the Government all the root causes of the conflict and what needs to be done. The Government is implementing almost all our demands but why keep the old leaders out?" he said.

Separatist movements have agreed to drop their demands for independence in exchange for amnesty, better economic development, more funds and use of Malay language in schools.

Dr Wan Kadir Che Man, leader of Bersatu, a coalition of Muslim separatist organisations in the south, had said in October they were willing to open talks with the Thai Government after meeting military officials on several occasions in Langkawi.

"You cannot go straight to every group...you have to go one by one. People on the ground, the ordinary people in the south will judge the progress and eventually support the peace talks when they see the authorities' sincerity," he said.

Bersatu is made up of several organisations like the BRN (National Revolutionary Front), PULO (Patani United Liberation Organisation), BIPP (Patani Islamic Liberation Front) and GIMP (Muslim Mujahideen Movement of Patani).

Some groups like PULO emerged in the 1970s during the armed struggle by ethnic Malays in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat seeking independence from Thailand.

The coalition was involved in talks with the Thai Army top brass in Langkawi this year initiated by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Honorary Royal Thai Consul in Langkawi Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah.

They came out with a Joint Peace and Development Plan for Southern Thailand.

Peace was restored in the last decade but separatists launched a campaign of bombings and shootings in January 2004.

Asked about the measures taken by Surayud and Army Chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the separatist leader said although both were sincere in solving the problem, mere public statements issued to the Muslim community to win their hearts and minds were not enough as whatever promised must be fulfilled in writing.

Following the Langkawi talks, the leader said the Government had so far bowed to their demand to acknowledge extra-judicial killings, including the murder of suspected separatists handed over by Malaysia, arrests of people without trial, scrapping of the blacklist and apology over the gross violation of human rights incident at Tak Bai and Kru Se.

"But we are sceptical on what the present Government can offer in the long term as they will only stay until October next year.

"If you want to implement syariah laws, recognition of the Malays as an ethnic/indigenous group or make Malay a working language, turn it into law now. Then, it will give confidence to the people on the commitment and sincerity of the Government," he said.

He said the new measures were similar to the approach taken by former Prime Minister and current Privy Council Chairman Prem Tinsulanonda in the 1980s.

Source: Bernama - 8 December 2006

[Jai Dee]

Govt urged to talk to oldtimers of separatist groups

The Thai government should seek help from long-standing separatist organisations to quell the ongoing violence in the deep South, where more than 1,900 people have been killed since January 2004, Malaysia's state-run news agency, Bernama, quoted an unnamed separatist leader as saying yesterday.

The separatist leader said the Thai government has wrongly assumed that the leaders of a number of separatist movements, most of whom are living in exile, have no control over the hundreds of militants on the ground.

"We are ready to talk, but the government and the Army are ignoring us ... they want to talk directly to the militants [armed wings and independent cells], but at the same time they are telling us they are unsure who to negotiate with," the leader was quoted by Bernama as saying.

He said a number of separatist leaders were suspicious that the Thai Army was delaying negotiations with them so they can obtain more funding in the 2007 budget. The government has allocated the armed forces Bt115 billion, up by nearly 50 per cent from last year's budget, partly due to the ongoing violence in the restive region.

Thai intelligence officers said most of the violence in the predominantly Malay-speaking South is carried out by village-based cells that operate almost independently from one another and with little contact with the long-standing separatist groups. But it remains unclear as to what kind of influence these traditional groups could have on the militants on the ground.

The separatist leader urged the government to go beyond making public statements to win the hearts and minds of the local Malay-Muslims and added that whatever is promised must be confirmed in writing.

Meanwhile, suspected Muslim militants on Thursday night set ablaze several rooms at Kuruchon Pattana School in Yala's Muang district, according to principal Thitipan Thipprapai.

Schools and teachers have been the target of frequent violent attacks. More than 50 teachers have been killed over the past two years.

In Narathiwat's Chanae district, a rubber tapper, Maseedee Wadeng, 25, was found dead in front of his house, his body riddled with long-range pistol bullets.

Meanwhile, victims of a violent attack on Wednesday were recuperating well, said doctors. One-year-old Rattanapol and his parents are in stable condition, said Dr Wattana Wattanayakorn, director of Yala Hospital. The three were wounded in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday morning.

Two other school students, who were injured by a bomb blast in front of Wiangsuwan Witthayakom School, are also in a stable condition in hospital, said Wattana.

An inspector from the Education Ministry, Prasert Kaewpetch, visited the two students yesterday and gave them Bt10,000 each.

Source: The Nation - 9 December 2006