Bangkok, 15 Feb. (AKI) - Thailand has denied it is to ask Malaysia to broker a peace deal with rebels in three Thai Muslim provinces, saying that Malaysia's prime minster Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had been "misqouted" when he announced that his country would be involved. "There is no plan for such mediation that would necessitate any request," Thailand's foreign minister, Nitya Pibulsonggram, said in a statement released on Thursday. "We believe His Excellency the Prime Minister of Malaysia has been misquoted," the statement also said. | The Thai's are too polite to just say "butt out". |
Badawi had said that the ethnic, linguistic and religious (Islamic) ties between Malaysia and the three troubled mostly Muslim provinces - Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani - made Kuala Lumpur the best candidate that Bangkok would want as a mediator, and that an official request would soon be forthcoming.
Pibulsonggram in his Thursday statement did stress that Thailand sees Malaysia as a partner in resolving a conflict which has killed more than 2,000 people since it began in January 2004. "Thailand values all the cooperation that Malaysia can extend to us in our effort to bring peace and normalcy to the three southern provinces, particularly in joint development projects along the common border," he said.
The two countries have announced they will extend by 10 kilometres a wall which runs along their border which divides Yala with the Malaysian province of Kedah and aims to curb smuggling and illegal crossings. | Funny, everyone is building walls to stop illegal crossings except us. |
In the past Bangkok has accused Kuala Lumpur of not doing enough to prevent the Muslim rebels from using Malaysia as a base from which to launch their attacks. However since the ousting of Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in Septbember 2006, relations between the two neighbours have improved. While Thaksin had used strong-arm tactics in the southern provinces, his successor Surayud Chulanont, has raised the possibility of peace talks with the rebels. |