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| Southeast Asia |
| No international terrorist ties here, claims Thai PM |
| 2007-03-10 |
| Prime Minister Gen. Surayud Chulanont said progress has been made by the authorities in dealing with unrest in Thailand southernmost provinces, and that the violence taking place there had by Though governments of foreign countries might have alerted their nationals of possible peril while they are in Thailand, Gen. Surayud maintained that the unrest in the turbulent provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani had not involved international terrorism as earlier feared. *whew* Tourists could go anywhere except for areas declared unsafe by the Thai authorities, Gen. Surayud said, apparently responding to the Australian government's reaction to speculation relating to possible terrorism in Thailand. Events in Thailand's southernmost region should not be compared with those in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the prime minister. Gen. Surayud downplayed speculation that untoward incidents would occur on March 13, the date which marks the establishment of the so-called State of Pattani, and said the authorities have been taking varied steps to assure the safety of local villagers and officials assigned to the southern tier of provinces. Cooperation between Thailand and Malaysia in a bid to contain regional unrest is being carried out in satisfactory fashion, especially regarding resolution of the the dual-nationality status of some Muslim residents. Evidence such as fingerprints and pictures of suspected militants, who may have shuttled themselves between the two neighbouring countries and carried both Thai and Malaysian nationality identification, had been made fully available to the authorities of both countries, the prime minister said. Meanwhile, Gen, Surayud said government units would adjust the tactics of patrols and search for suspected insurgents throughout the region, even as understanding between government officials and local villagers would as well improve. Government officials would give clear explanations to the pre-dominantly Muslim villagers, including veiled women and youngsters, if any of their neighbours were detained for police questioning, after an untoward incident had taken place. Gen. Surayud quoted ISOC officials and the Navy chief of staff as saying the ethnic Malay Muslim villagers had recently been more cooperative with the authorities. More funding would be shortly provided for local units in charge of security affairs and under the care of the Internal Security Operations Command and Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, Gen. Surayud said. The prime minister added that he intended to conduct a meeting between the National Security Council and other government agencies to discuss the Deep South issue on a monthly basis and to closely follow up implementations of the government policy and schemes by government officials in a tele-conference mode. "Besides, I'm quite sure my listening tour will charm the strictly local beheading brigade into submission", he added. |
| Posted by:ryuge |