Thais seek Muslim ties to help quell insurgency

THE Thai government is seeking closer links with Muslim countries, part of a two-pronged strategy to end separatist violence in three of its southern provinces.

Even as the government was announcing the plan, at least 13 more people died in the area in bombings and shootings.

A security report released by the Thai Cabinet said the government will pursue closer ties with Muslim countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia.

The government also wants to develop closer contacts with international Muslim organisations and foundations.

The Thai military said this week it had rounded up more than 1,900 suspected militants during recent sweeps across the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.

The military has labelled 300 of those in custody as “leading insurgents” who supervised and staged attacks.

Analysts said these moves were a two-pronged strategy to end the three-year-old Muslim insurgency in the three provinces, which sit on Thailand’s southern border with predominately-Muslim Malaysia. The violence has claimed almost 2,500 lives since 2004.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, said the strategy aims to give the government a better picture of how and where the separatists are receiving their support.

“The network in the south has been known to be connected to overseas foundations,” he said.

Nitti Hassan, president of the Council of Muslim Organisations of Thailand, said the government was casting a wide net in the hope of attracting Muslim help, contacting religious leaders from as far away as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Thailand has already sought help from Malaysia in opening dialogue with separatist leaders.