Shadowy group behind Thai violence
A top security adviser to the government said yesterday that an underground shadowy movement that has been building its ranks for almost a decade was behind the recent spate of violence in the countryâs restive south. General Kitti Rattanchaya said the violence had little to do with the drug trade and was the work of a growing but shadowy movement that wanted a separate Islamic state. He said Islamic separatists had been building their ranks secretly by âinciting people and training militias at religious schoolsâ in the south.
âThey are now reaching the sixth of seven steps towards establishing an independent Muslim state,â he said. âThe sixth stage is the armed fight and the undeclared war,â he said, adding that the final stage was a revolution and the formation of an Islamic state. Gen Kitti did not name the movement, but some believe he may have been referring to one that goes by the name of Pusaka, pronounced as Pusa-koh. The Thai authorities first noticed it more than a year ago in documents found when they raided the home of a teacher, Ustadj Masae Usae, who is thought to be living underground in Malaysia. âThe military believes that is the name of the movement,â a political science professor at Pattaniâs Prince of Songkhla University, Prof Chidchanok Rahimullah, told The Straits Times. âThey say Masae Usae is the head of the movement. But personally, I donât believe he has the charisma to inspire so many,â said the professor, who met the teacher some years ago. The movement âpreys on young people who donât have jobs, donât have education, canât get into universities and get into drugsâ.
Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-04-30 |