Posted on 09/20/2006 3:54:59 AM PDT by excludethis
Thailand must negotiate with leaders of an ethnic Malay Muslim separatist insurgency if it wants to end bloodshed in its troubled Muslim-majority southern provinces, the country’s army chief said on Friday.
General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin said the violence, which has claimed more than 1,500 lives, would not be quelled if authorities only arrested the foot-soldiers of the militancy, but refused to talk to its instigators. “It is necessary to talk to make lasting peace,” Gen Sondhi, the first Muslim to head the Thai army, told Thai journalists on Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT The appeal for talks with insurgents came a day after bombs in 22 banks across the province of Yala exploded almost simultaneously, killing a retired official, and injuring 28 people.
The highly co-ordinated attacks on the banks, including two state-owned Islamic banks, demonstrated the militants’ rising technical capacity, and their willingness to strike at the foundations of the economy of the region, an ethnic Malay Muslim-majority enclave in Buddhist-majority Thailand.
“Nothing is spared,” said Sunai Phasuk, a political analyst with Human Rights Watch. “So far, they have targeted administrative structures, security forces, law enforcement, educational structures, and cultural structures, like Buddhist monks. Now they attack the economic structure, which means nothing put in place by the Thai state is accepted.”
Since the renewed flare-up in January 2004 of a decades-old separatist insurgency, Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister, has promised to shower the troubled region with money to accelerate economic growth, while also imposing a state of emergency that allows security forces to use harsh measures to crack down on suspected militants.
Mr Thaksin has, in public, staunchly refused to engage in negotiations to end the long-standing conflict, which has at its roots resistance by ethnic Malay Muslims against forcible assimilation into the Thai state, and resentment at discrimination against them in jobs and education.
Yet behind the scenes, some Thai officials have been quietly engaging over the last year with “certain individuals” – including prominent southern Thai Muslims in political exile – who are seen as potentially able to influence the insurgents.
“The army has been trying to talk with the intellectual leaders of the militant groups,” Mr Sunai said.
However, Mr Sunai said negotiations still faced formidable obstacles, including ensuring that those southern Thai Muslims in contact with officials could actually exert influence on the ground.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
not good
They only understand death, so give it to them.
Muslims takeover an entire country without firing a shot. Simply infiltrate country's power structure and commit a coup! Liberals and Europe had better take notice!!
ping
1,500 people were killed yesterday?
and they expected ?????
Thanks for posting. Very interesting.
I just scoured an AP article on the coup and did not find the word Muslim or Islam anywhere. The MSM is complicit in this Islamic take-over of the world.
Also, the words the Pope chose from the old man really sets up the issue. I'm gald he said it. Even if all the Christian churches in Gaza will (supposedly) burn.
No
Good find. Thanks for posting.
Can you please remove this from Breaking News? It is neither, just a rehash of stories from people who nothing about what is going on here in Thailand.
The coup in Thailand has absolutely nothing to do with religion.
Can you provide details? How is the article from people who know nothing about happenings in Thailand? Also, it is of interest that the Army Chief of Staff is a Muslim.
Sondhi is incredibly well respected and didn't get where he is by chance. He started his career in the military fighting alongside US troops in Vietnam. He went on to head the Thai Army's Special Warfare Command. I know many people who have served under him and they have nothing but respect for the guy.
The posts on FR condeming him are laughable. The posters have no idea what in the world they are talking about. If there is anyone in Thailand who can put an end to the troubles in the South of the country, it is him.
The part of the country that I call home is deep with educated foreigners from Asia, India and South America. Whenever we talk about US politics I realize how little they really understand about who we are and how we operate, even if they are now or about to be citizens.
On the flip side I have never known an American ex-pat who didn't profess to hold a deep and accurate understanding of all the subtleties of the culture that he has embraced.
Strange that you haven't heard it screamed about as a quagmire every day on CNN, isn't it?
There are Muslim extremists in predominantly Buddhist Thailand who have been committing violent acts for a number of years. The article is referring to the number of people killed in the violence over that time period. Not to a number killed on the day of the coup. The Muslim extremist violence in Thailand has not gotten much play in the news, which might be why you asked if that number of deaths happened yesterday.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.