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| Southeast Asia |
| Bomb kills one, injures 11 in southern Thailand |
| 2007-08-25 |
| A bomb exploded as Buddhist monks collected alms in Thailand's restive south, killing a man and injuring 11 other people, including six soldiers who were guarding the monks, police said. A bomb hidden underneath a table in front of a grocery shop in Pattani's Muang district went off as two Buddhist monks climbed off a military vehicle to accept an offering of food from the shop's owner, said police Col. Somchit Nasomyon. The blast instantly killed the shop owner, Yaowaphan Thientham, Somchit said. It also injured six soldiers who were part of the patrol guarding the monks, three villagers and two monks known as novices because they are under 15 years, he said. Buddhist monks have been slain and dozens injured in bomb explosions. For three years, the military has provided escorts for Buddhist monks while they collect alms in the morning. During an official visit to Malaysia earlier this week, Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi discussed the ongoing construction of a bridge connecting the countries to facilitate the movement of people across the border. "Malaysia has no policy of supporting separatism (within southern Thailand). It wants to develop its northern region, and that cannot happen if the violence in southern Thailand continues," Surayud said in his weekly address Saturday during a visit to Narathiwat. Surayud and Abdullah also discussed establishing exchanges of students and Islamic teachers, as well as a program to allow Thais to cross the border to work and return home at night. |
| Posted by:ryuge |