Posted on 03/19/2004 9:52:54 AM PST by swarthyguy
Arsonists set fire to 36 buildings, mostly deserted health clinics and police stations, in a rampage across Thailand's Muslim south that may reflect anger over a missing lawyer, government officials said Friday. . No injuries were reported. Interior Minister Bhokin Balakula said the attacks were carried out overnight in the provinces of Pattani, Songkhla and Yala, where violence erupted in January when an army camp was raided and guns were stolen. . More than 20 state schools were also set on fire that night, probably as a diversion for the army camp raid, in which four soldiers were killed. . That led some officials to believe that separatism was erupting again in a region where a low-level independence war was fought in the 1970s and 1980s. . The government, however, blames militants, drug- and arms-smuggling rings and political disputes. . "This is the work of people who don't want to see the region at peace," Major General Thanee Thawitchsri, the police official who is in charge of the south, said in a radio interview on Friday. "They did this to show their existence." . But Bhokin and Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaichit, a lawyer representing fellow Thai Muslims accused of plotting attacks on embassies on behalf of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, might have been a factor. . "Many well-wishers told me the incident was a wake-up call," said Yongchaiyudh, who is in charge of national security. They said "what the government has done has been troublesome, including the disappearance of Mr. Somchai," he said. . Somchai, who was also leading a campaign to abolish martial law in the south, last made contact with his family on March 12 and they fear that he might have been abducted. . The government has rebuffed suggestions by foreign human rights groups that it may be responsible for Somchai's disappearance and maintains that it is trying to find him. . Large parts of the three southern provinces were placed under martial law after the attack on the army camp, but the violence has continued. More than 50 people have been killed, including policemen, officials and Buddhist monks. Security around government offices, mosques, Buddhist temples and highways has been tightened.
No injuries were reported. Interior Minister Bhokin Balakula said the attacks were carried out overnight in the provinces of Pattani, Songkhla and Yala, where violence erupted in January when an army camp was raided and guns were stolen.
More than 20 state schools were also set on fire that night, probably as a diversion for the army camp raid, in which four soldiers were killed.
That led some officials to believe that separatism was erupting again in a region where a low-level independence war was fought in the 1970s and 1980s.
The government, however, blames militants, drug- and arms-smuggling rings and political disputes.
"This is the work of people who don't want to see the region at peace," Major General Thanee Thawitchsri, the police official who is in charge of the south, said in a radio interview on Friday. "They did this to show their existence."
But Bhokin and Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaichit, a lawyer representing fellow Thai Muslims accused of plotting attacks on embassies on behalf of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, might have been a factor.
"Many well-wishers told me the incident was a wake-up call," said Yongchaiyudh, who is in charge of national security. They said "what the government has done has been troublesome, including the disappearance of Mr. Somchai," he said.
Somchai, who was also leading a campaign to abolish martial law in the south, last made contact with his family on March 12 and they fear that he might have been abducted.
The government has rebuffed suggestions by foreign human rights groups that it may be responsible for Somchai's disappearance and maintains that it is trying to find him.
Large parts of the three southern provinces were placed under martial law after the attack on the army camp, but the violence has continued. More than 50 people have been killed, including policemen, officials and Buddhist monks. Security around government offices, mosques, Buddhist temples and highways has been tightened.
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