A suspected leading member of the southern Thai separatist movement, the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) was arrested in Malaysia and sent back to Thailand, local newspapers said Thursday. The Nation and Bangkok Post dailies, quoting sources, said Manase Jeloh,35, who has a three million baht reward on him, was captured by the Malaysian special branch and handed over to their counterpart two days ago.The papers said he was handed over to the deputy national police chief, General Priewphan Damapong at the Sadao Immigration checkpoint and being interrogated at a secret location. Neither senior police officials nor those at the multi-agency Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command would publicly confirm Manase's arrest yesterday, said the Nation.
The suspected insurgent is said to be linked with the PULO. An official reward of Bt1 million for his capture has been on offer for about two years, and was recently raised to Bt3 million. Manase is said to be using several names, including Chakarim Useng Cheloh, Kasim Bin Chelah and Ustas Seng.
He was born on June 30, 1970, and lived in Pattani. He is believed to have undergone about four years of training in Libya. The Thai police suspect him of being involved in several attacks in the southernmost provinces, including planting bombs on several occasions. He recently fled to Malaysia before being arrested in Kuala Lumpur.
It is still not clear if Manase was the suspected militant referred by Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar who told reporters last week that a militant had been handed over to the Thai authorities. Confusion arose as the reports said the militant was one of the 131 people who fled to Kelantan in August but Thai authorities quickly denied such handover had taken place.
Since violence escalated in the three southern provinces, more than 1,000 people have been killed in the unrest blamed on a mix of Muslim separatism, organised crime and drug trafficking. 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 latest move by the Malaysian authority is expected to further normalise ties between the two neighbours which have been engulfed in a diplomatic row since the refugee issue emerged. The Thais had alleged in few occasions that militants staging violence in the south often fled and hid in Malaysia. The refugees, claiming that they feared for their lives back home, are currently being held in Terengganu and still refused to return despite pledges by the Thai government that their safety would be guaranteed.