Thailand makes peace efforts

Thailand’s government plans to reach out to militants in its three Muslim southern provinces to peacefully end a 16-month rebellion there that has been blamed on Islamic separatists and claimed 800 lives, the country’s foreign minister said today.

Many of the people who have taken part in the conflict have been misled into believing they are fighting a religious war against Thailand’s Buddhist-led government, Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said.