Muslim Provocateur Sought By Police

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Suspect sought over Thai attacks

Security is tight since last week's violence

A court in Thailand has issued an arrest warrant for a Muslim teacher accused of organising last week's clashes in three southern provinces.

Police said two men detained during the fighting accused the teacher of inspiring youths to carry out raids.

A man was shot dead in Narathiwat province on Wednesday, sparking fears of a continuation of the violence.

He is the first person to die since last week's clashes, which claimed the lives of more than 100 people.

Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Prung Boonpadung said the two detainees had accused the 33-year-old teacher of indoctrinating them into launching the attacks.

"We have enough evidence from the confession of those two men," Mr Prung told the French news agency AFP.

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"He will be charged on several counts including attempted assassination and obstructing authorities."

According to Reuters news agency, police searched the suspect's home and the religious school in Yala in which he worked, but he could not be found.

Police told Reuters that the teacher had recruited at least 20 teenagers to launch the raids, and gave them a magic spell to recite one day before the attacks.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has recently acknowledged that the violence could have been motivated by religion, rather than drugs or crime, as he had previously suggested.

The alienation felt by Thailand's Muslim community - which is largely concentrated in the southern provinces - has been the source of a decades-old separatist struggle, and there are fears that levels of unrest in the region are increasing.

Mr Thaksin is due to visit the troubled region on Thursday for a three-day tour.

His government is anxious to stem criticism of the authorities' handling of the clashes.

Both the United Nations and local Muslim leaders have questioned the degree of force used by security forces in quashing the attacks.

On Tuesday, the government appointed an independent commission into one particular incident during Wednesday's violence - a mosque shoot-out in Pattani province in which more than 30 militants died.