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Thailand sez most of those responsible for southern unrest in custody
Thai authorities have captured most of the people responsible for the unrest in the mainly Muslim south and the situation would improve within months, Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya said on Sunday.Police and soldiers had captured 190 people thought to be involved in almost daily attacks in the region that have killed more than 1,000 people since January 2004, he said. Chidchai estimated the government had "fixed 40 percent of the problem", but misunderstandings between local southerners and authorities still needed to be adressed. "By April, the situation in the south will have improved," he told reporters, adding that he wanted Thai Buddhist soldiers to learn the local language before sending them to the region, where a majority of the people are Muslim and speak Malay. The presence of 30,000 troops and police has failed to halt strife in the three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, where militants staged a separatist campaign in the 1970s and 1980s. Locals have complained of unfair treatment at the hands of Bangkok officials, whose ideas of calming the unrest included an airdrop of origami birds symbolising peace. Security analysts fear a long history of separatism in the far south could attract backing from international Islamic militant networks like as Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-01-01 |
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