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| Southeast Asia |
| Thailand closes jihadi boarding school |
| 2007-07-06 |
| The Thai government closed down an Islamic boarding school Friday in the country's violence-wracked south where security forces arrested seven alleged bomb-making specialists earlier this week, officials said. Police and soldiers arrested the seven suspects Sunday night when they raided the Islam Burapha school in Narathiwat province's Muang district. Authorities found rifles, pistols, bomb-making ingredients including gasoline and ammonium nitrate, and mobile phones commonly used to trigger bombs. Army spokesman Col. Akara Thiprote said authorities on Wednesday arrested an "ustad," or teacher, who is a key member of the operation. "The school was used as a venue for meetings and training of insurgents," said Nattapol Vichienpraed, deputy governor of Narathiwat province. "It also gave refuge and hiding ground to the militants." The school was among many Islamic schools in the south that have been employing Muslim extremists as teachers, fueling the insurgency, said Nidir Waba, head of southern Islamic schools association. "It is a school that has been on the watch list for a long time and they have not been following the peaceful means that religious schools are supposed to comply with," said Nidir. "There are more schools like that but the government will need to have enough evidence to take action." Some teachers and the principal were earlier taken in for questioning, police said. The men arrested are suspected of involvement in some of the worst recent violence in the region, including a roadside bombing that killed 11 paramilitary troops on May 31, Akara said earlier. Some of the suspects were top members of Runda Kumpulan Kecil, or RKK, Akara said, a shadowy organization believed by some terrorism experts to be an informal network of separatists who allegedly received training in Indonesia. The suspects were charged with illegal possession of explosive material and more charges, including terrorism-related ones, may follow after further investigation, Akara said. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Huh. A Muslim school involved in terrorism. What are the odds of that? A hair less than unity? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-07-06 08:39 |