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| Southeast Asia |
| Thailand seeks Malaysia's help to nab Muslim rebels |
| 2002-09-25 |
| Thailand has asked Malaysia to help capture five Muslims over what it claimed was their 'terrorist' activities. Thai security authorities believe that the men who it said include a 'bomb expert' trained in Afghanistan, are hiding out in Malaysia. The Malaysian officials swiftly responded, saying that if found, they would cooperate with the Thai authorities. "We will investigate their claim that the rebels are in Malaysia. If we capture them, we will hand them over to Thai authoritie," said a police spokesman. "We don't want 'em. We have enough nutcases of our own..." The men allegedly belong to three Muslim separatist groups in Pattani in southern Thailand, and the authorities there have offered rewards of up to US$7,900 for information leading to their arrest. Thailand said intelligence reports indicated the five were in Malaysia. A police spokesman was quoted by the Malay Mail newspaper as saying that they are "hiding somewhere" in one of five Malaysian states: Kelantan, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, Perak and Kedah. That's a fairly large area. I won't hold my breath until they're apprehended... Having lived in Thailand myself, I can well understand why proper Islamists would want to destroy their society. The Thais do all sorts of un-Islamic things: singing, dancing, laughing, that sort of thing. They lack a proper love of explosives, and they seldom kill anyone without reason. Truly, they're a threat to the most basic tenets of Islam. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Thais do too like explosives. If they are in fireworks! Never saw a people so fond of loud bangs and bright flashes. Considering the minimum wage in the provinces is about $3.50 a day, $7900 is a pretty good reward. They may catch 'em. |
| Posted by: Kathy K 2002-09-25 16:45:39 |