BANGKOK, MAY 20 (TNA) - The Thai police have found what they believe ara Al Qaeda military training booklets during a raid on an Islamic school in the South, according to Thailand’s Interior Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya.
“The find gives rise for grave concern,” he told journalists on Friday.
Police found the documents hidden in a nearby coconut plantation during a raid an Islamic school or Por Noh in Ya Rang district in Pattani province.
''Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is very worried about this and he has assigned me to take care of it,'' said the interior minister.
The prime minister now planned to hold a special discussion with the governors of the troubled provinces on aggressive measures to solve the problem, the interior minister said after a meeting with all the country’s governors.
Thailand’s three Muslim-dominated border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala have been plagued by insurgent violence since early 2004. More than 650 people have died in the violent unrest.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of Islamic Conference or OIC said it planned to send a delegation of officials to assess the problems in Thailand's southern provinces early next month.
Thailand will provide tight security for the OIC team during their two-week visit to the region from 2 June, Pol. Gen. Chidchai said.
Madrid, 18 May (AKI) - Basque separatist group ETA, which has carried out scores of terrorist attacks in its fight against Spain, is attempting to spread across Europe by establishing new bases around the continent, Europol - the European cross-border police force- has warned in a report. "ETA is amplifying its presence in some European countries, and has sent its members to Italy, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands to create support bases for the terrorist group," the report says.Experts believe that ETA's decision to expand across Europe is a direct consequence of improved collaboration between Spanish and French police. For decades, France has provided an ideal base for the Basque separatists, and a springboard for attacks by its military wing. Following a series of arrests of prominent ETA members, experts believe the group no longer feels safe in France and is therefore seeking safer grounds.
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http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.168545508&par=0