Malaysia has rejected a claim by Thailand that Thai restaurants in Malaysia are funding a separatist movement to make violence in Thailand's three southern provinces while some new reports said an Al-Qaida-linked regional terror network has infiltrated in these predominantly Muslim areas.
Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont revealed on Tuesday that some Thai restauranteurs in Malaysia are supporting the insurgent movements in Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani, three border provinces of Thailand plagued with violence related to an ongoing insurgency which has claimed more than 1,700 lives since it resumed in early 2004.
But according to Thai news group The Nation on Wednesday, Malaysia's Deputy Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow described the allegation by Surayud as "baseless". "It is very imaginative of him. It is absolutely baseless. These restaurants are owned by Malaysians and Thais," Kiow was quoted as saying.
On Tuesday, Surayud said that the persistent violence in the southern border provinces is promoted by some people who wrongfully believe in separatism based on differences in religion, race and historical assumptions. "As a matter of fact," the Thai prime minister said, "we must be based on a fact that Thailand is a place where people of different beliefs and races can live together peacefully." |