Thai Leader: Extremists Helping Rebels

Tuesday November 16, 2004 9:16 AM By SUTIN WANNABOVORN Associated Press Writer

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday said foreign Islamic extremists were helping separatists launch attacks in Thailand's Muslim-dominated south, but he denied international terrorist organizations were sponsoring the conflict. Two village defense volunteers slain late Monday were the latest casualties of the bloodshed, which has claimed at least 540 lives since January, when an insurgency in the country's three mostly Islamic provinces that was believed to have abated flared up again.

``The separatist movement is actively creating trouble, and they have Muslim extremists from foreign countries helping them,'' Thaksin told reporters. ``The assistance is not in the form of a terrorist organization or at the governmental level, but as individual friends they met while studying abroad.''

It was Thaksin's most direct statement yet about foreign involvement, although he has previously accused southern Thais of having ties with Malaysian militants. Thaksin said hundreds of Thai Muslims had traveled to Middle Eastern countries to further their education, and that Thai security agencies believed some of the students may have received terrorist and militia training abroad. He did not name any countries. Defense Minister Gen. Sumpun Boonyanun said hundreds of Islamic youths had received military training in Muslim countries, including some of Thailand's neighbors. Malaysia and Indonesia have Muslim majorities.

``The intelligence sources show that the Muslim youths have gone for military training in several Muslim countries, but it is not appropriate for me to mention the countries by name because they are our friendly nations,'' Sumpun said.

Security officials in Southeast Asia say members of the regional extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah attended hardline religious schools in Pakistan, and that some joined al-Qaida recruits from the Middle East at terror training camps in Afghanistan prior to the U.S.-led war there.

Thaksin said his security forces had ``a clear picture'' of the separatist movement. Thailand is mostly Buddhist, but the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat near Malaysia have Muslim majorities. Southern Thai Muslims say the Buddhist-led government discriminates against them, mainly in jobs and education.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlates...618066,00.html