Article

2003-06-10 Southeast Asia

KUALA LUMPUR â The three Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat will be made âspecial administrative zonesâ and given a new administrative name supervised by the Interior Ministry in a bid to end years of instability and separatism. Thailandâs most senior minister after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha will single-handedly âsuperviseâ the region and will report directly to the Prime Minister.

They've finally gotten tired of it, have they?

The Muslim Pattani United Liberation Organization (PULO), one of the oldest separatist movement in the country, said the naming of a Muslim minister to take control of the region signals the government failure in the Muslim South. In an email written in Malay language, which is the language the Muslims of Malay origin use in the south of Thailand, the PULO said it was expecting the interior minister to issue a series of new orders and regulations to curb the activities of the separatists. The email also said the Malays in the region should expect more tight control of the streets and the activities of Muslims who openly express themselves against the âcolonizationâ of the area. Anti-U.S. campaigns, pro-Osama bin Laden rallies and attacks against the police and the military as well as tourist targets in the South of Thailand sparked more violence in the region after a few years of relative calm following a major crackdown on Muslim separatism in the mid 1990âs.

All the things guaranteed to endear them to the central government...

The PULO said the new response by the âThaiâ administration indicated that the worst is not over for the Muslims, adding that âa military invasion of the region is to be expected after the complete failure of the Thaiâs to rein terror in the region.â It said that the statement by Deputy Premier Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh that Prime Minister Thaksin was considering the idea of putting the South under a new administration to resolve problems in the area was an indication of that failure. The PULO also added that the governmentâs reshaping of the security structure in the south to strengthen unity among security agencies was also indicative that major activities will be taking place there soon, warning Muslims to prepare for fresh crackdown against Islam and the Malays.

Actually, more against the thugs and agents provocateurs â though, granted, they're Islamists and Malays.

The separatist movement also expressed fears in the email forwarded to IslamOnline.net on Tuesday that the military is ready to resume a policy used against separatists and communists in the early 1980âs. The policy pushed by former Fourth Army commander Gen Harn Leelanont, a senator from Satun, was adopted in 1980-1982 to curb violence amid threats from communists and separatists, wrote the Bangkok Post on Monday, June 9. In those days, military operations were needed to suppress crimes in the region and restore weakening community relations. The policy consists of âsearch and destroyâ of terror cells and separatist military and soft targets in order to avert attacks against the police and other officials.

That's pretty much the pattern now: if it's Islamist, it's separatist. They can't live under laws that apply to everyone. So we have these yahoos in Thailand, which is a perfectly nice country. We have them in the Philippines, trying to gnaw off Mindanao. We have the seeds being planted in Cambodia. We even have Aceh, where the Indonesians aren't Muslim enough.

Posted by Fred Pruitt 2003-06-10 08:06 pm|| || Front Page|| [11 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 It is not a religion, it is a disease that will destroy the host, and then itself after the host is dead. The Thais need to follow the money and see where all the mad dogs in mufti get their silver.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2003-06-10 20:13:28|| 2003-06-10 20:13:28|| Front Page Top

#2 Status: Toast

Posted by Rex Mundi 2003-06-10 20:20:56|| 2003-06-10 20:20:56|| Front Page Top

09:38 Grom the Reflective
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