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Thai rebels press for independence, set to scupper peace talks
[Al Ahram] Leaders of a Mohammedan rebel group in southern Thailand said they will press for an independent state and made other demands that are likely to scupper a second round of peace talks, which started in Malaysia on Monday.Resistance to Bangkok's Buddhist rule has existed for decades but flared up violently in 2004 since when a campaign of bombings and roadside shootings has killed over 5,300 people, according to monitoring group Deep South Watch. Thai security forces say the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN)is the main bad turban group behind the attacks, although they acknowledge that other gangs operate in the region. The government made no comment on the BRN's message - aired on social networking website YouTube on Sunday - but officials, who dismiss any notion of independence or regional autonomy, are certain to reject the demands. In the clip, Hassan Taib, one of the BRN leaders, said running "our own government in the fairest way" in the region was one of the group's objectives. Another leader, Abdulkarim Khalib, demanded that Thailand drop all charges against alleged Mohammedan separatists and unconditionally release all detainees. The BRN statement pledged to continue its actions "until the demise of colonialism". Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the clip left unchanged the Thai government's stand that the rebels had broken the law. "The faceless myrmidons are all Thai people and we won't accept them as anything else," told news hounds in Bangkok. "They are Thais who broke the nation's law and are answerable to that." Posted by: Fred 2013-04-30 |
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