 Thailand charged on Wednesday that ringleaders of a Muslim separatist insurgency were hiding in neighboring Malaysia. Deputy Interior Minister Sutham Saengprathum reasserted that the government has obtained photographs of Thai rebels undergoing military training in Malaysia's Kelantan state and that several rebel leaders were also hiding in that state. A war of words between the neighbors was sparked after Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra first made the claim about the training camps last week. Malaysia has angrily denied the allegations. | "Certainly not! And we curse your mustache besides!" |
Malaysia's Deputy Defense Minister Zainal Abidin Zin said Wednesday that Thailand should hand over the alleged photo evidence and questioned why the Thai government had kept the pictures from Malaysian authorities "all this while if they sincerely want our cooperation." Zainal said Thai leaders and security officials made no mention about such photo evidence in several meetings with their Malaysian counterparts this year. "We are puzzled about what is going on," Zainal said. "We have no problems in helping Thailand and have put more soldiers at the borders and beefed our intelligence ... we are doing all we can." Sutham told Business Radio Wednesday that while the Malaysian government didn't assist the insurgents it didn't feel obliged to take measures to repatriate them to Thailand. He said the rebels may be assisted by some authorities and members of Malaysia's opposition party. "Several ringleaders and key members (of the insurgency) are hiding in Kelantan state. This is an open secret and everyone in the region knows where they are," Sutham said. He said photos of the training, which were taken by a Thai agent, would be used "for seeking cooperation with Malaysian counterparts." |