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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai rebels snub peace talks offer |
| 2007-08-30 |
| Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont yesterday said that "As of now, there has been no progress on starting negotiations, because that would require the agreement of both sides. So there are no talks for now," he told reporters. "My government is still adhering to a policy of non-violence, but cooperation from the people is crucial," he said. Human Rights Watch said in a report Tuesday that despite the peace gestures, Thailand still has no concrete strategy to end state-sanctioned abuses. But rest assured that HRW will immediately pounce upon and attack any strategy the Thai government develops. In fact the more "concrete" the strategy, the more they will howl, no doubt. The report warned that the conflict was degenerating into a brutal armed conflict in which 89 per cent of the fatalities have been civilians. Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram welcomed the report and said he believed it would help the international community understand why Thailand has struggled to find ways of reining in the shadowy Meanwhile, Thailand yesterday blasted a request by the European Union to send observers to the nation's post-coup elections in December, saying the kingdom was "not a failed state". Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram said it was "unacceptable" that the EU had asked Thai electoral officials for permission to send up to 500 observers to the polls on December 23. "We, in Thailand, have a track record across history. We are not a failed state or on any watch list," he said. "We are mature. We can solve our own problems," he said. "I don't think we need anybody to teach us how to vote," he said. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #2 The report warned that the conflict was degenerating into a brutal armed conflict in which 89 per cent of the fatalities have been civilians. So it doesn't matter if most of those civilian deaths have been schoolteachers, rubber plantation workers and such who happen to be ethnic Thais and Buddhists who were killed by muslim jihadis. It's still the government's fault, right? I guess we'll know when the government is finally on the right track when HRW starts screaming bloody murder. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-08-30 12:05 |
| #1 Oh, well. Guess you'll have to kill 'em... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-08-30 09:06 |