Thailand asked neighbouring Malaysia on Wednesday for a St. Valentine’s Day gift - the militant suspected of masterminding violence in its largely Muslim south. Bangkok urged Kuala Lumpur to step up its hunt for Masae Useng - wanted on charges of treason, murder, arson and robbery and believed to be hiding in neighbouring Malaysia, Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh told reporters. ``We’ve requested Masae Useng as a Valentine’s Day gift,’’ Chavalit said. ``I believe Malaysia is our friend and they will send him to us on the 14th.’’
| Does he perhaps know something? Or is he just hoping? |
The government has been seeking Useng since gunmen stole more than 100 assault rifles, most of them M-16s, and killed four soldiers on January 4 at an army base in the south, where militants fought a low-key separatist war in the 1970s and 1980s. Thai officials say they believe Useng planned the raid and some senior security officials say he might have links to Jemaah Islamiyah, the shadowy Islamic Southeast Asian network thought to be connected to al Qaeda and responsible for the Bali bombings in 2002. |