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2023-02-24 Southeast Asia
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Malaysian facilitator: BRN agrees to other Thai Deep South groups in talks
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 [BenarNews] The main Thai Deep South separatist organization BRN has agreed to other groups joining peace talks with the Thai government, the Malaysian negotiator told BenarNews on Wednesday after the latest two-day round of negotiations held in Kuala Lumpur.
Analysts noted the new Malaysian controller for the talks, former military chief Zulkifli Zainal Abidin, achieved another breakthrough when he managed the rare feat of a joint presser with negotiators representing the Thai government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) rebel group.
| ...the largest group in the Thai insurgency in the southern Thai provinces that make up the old Patani sultanate. |
Zulkifli said he hoped other groups from the Malay-majority Deep South would be present at the next round of negotiations in March, which would mark the first time they participate in peace talks since 2018.
"They have agreed in principle to invite others because they want to be inclusive too, but we need to send formal invitations to the others to make it happen," Zulkifli told BenarNews in an exclusive interview.
This was the first round of talks attended by Zulkifli since he took over as controller this year, replacing Abdul Rahim Noor, although the former Malaysian military chief visited Bangkok earlier this month to introduce himself to the Thai government team.
After the two days of talks, the Peace Dialogue Panel for the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand, headed by Gen. Wanlop Rugsanaoh, and the BRN delegation, headed by Anas Abdulrahman, agreed to move forward the peace dialogue process under what they termed a "Joint Comprehensive Plan toward Peace."
This plan, though, would have a timeframe — 2023 to 2024 — and would address issues dealing with reduction of violence, and public consultation that leads to political solutions, a Thai statement said.
Specific details would be worked out between March and May during technical meetings, "with an aim to present such [a] draft for consideration and endorsement" in June, the statement said.
When asked whether he believed the separatist conflict would end in two years, Zulkifli said he did.
"I am confident based on my two friends here," he said at the presser.
BRN has been fighting since January 2004 to establish an independent state for Malay Moslems who form the majority of the population in the southern border region. More than 7,300 people have been killed and 13,500 others injured in violence across the region since then, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
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Posted by trailing wife 2023-02-24 00:00||
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