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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysia moves against Thai hard boyz |
| 2004-08-10 |
| Malaysian authorities have handed over three suspected Islamic militants to their Thai counterparts and will detain an alleged prime mover behind the spate of violence in Thailand's Muslim-dominated deep South, a government source said yesterday. The source said officials in Malaysia have also detained, at an undisclosed location, suspected separatist Poh Su Ismail, the alleged author of the booklet advocating separatism found on the bodies of some of the insurgents killed during the April 28 uprising. Thailand's government was quick to portray the 34-page booklet, The Fight for the Liberation of Pattani, as a deviation from Islamic teachings, but Islamic studies scholars said the booklet was nothing more than an organisational handbook that contains no theology. The booklet depicted the Muslim-dominated region as an occupied territory and urged fellow Muslims to rise up against the state to liberate the region. Thailand has reportedly submitted to the Malaysian government the names of 22 suspects they want deported. The three suspects' extradition and Poh Su's detention are unprecedented, and could mark the beginning of improved security relations in security co-operation relations, the officer said. Thai authorities believe that a score of Muslim insurgents linked to this year's violence have fled to Malaysia to avoid arrest. Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula is scheduled to meet his Malaysian counterpart and senior Malaysian security officials in Phuket next week to discuss ways of halting the violence in the south. The southern provinces have been wracked by clashes this year, which have left about 300 dead. Intelligence officers said the insurgents were a new breed of militants, with cells operating independently in attacks, bombings and killings in the region. In related developments, a team of 70 police officers — including 50 under-cover agents — swamped the Nakhon Si Thammarat airport Monday evening after authorities received a tip-off that a suspected al-Qaeda member was arriving in the southern city, the official said. No one was arrested as the warning appeared to be a hoax, the officer said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 good signs from Malaysia? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-10 20:41 |