The coup was a Muslim coup.appeasement is not surprising.
Bruce http://voanews.com/english/2006-11-02-voa15.cfm New Thai Leaders Reach Out to Violence-Ridden South By Roger Wilkison VOA NEWS Bangkok 02 November 2006 The head of Thailand's military junta and the prime minister are visiting the country's restive south, where violence has become endemic over nearly three years. the new government of predominantly Buddhist Thailand is reaching out to the mostly Muslim south but has no illusions that the violence will end soon. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has said that restoring peace to southern Thailand is one of his main priorities. Residents in the region, who are mostly ethnic Malays, have long complained that they are treated as second-class citizens. Mr. Surayud says the problems are rooted in injustice. His month-old government, installed by the military after a September 19 coup deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has already revived a mediation agency in the country's southernmost provinces. Mr. Thaksin had dissolved the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center in his pursuit of a hard-line approach to unrest in the region. On Thursday, Mr. Surayud went further, publicly apologizing in the town of Pattani for the harsh policies of the past. "I came here today, to reach out to you with my hands and apologize for the mistakes of the past," he said. He promised to use peaceful means to solve the south's problem Thai analysts say the current violence, which has claimed more than 1700 lives, is different, and more daunting, than past rebellions because the militants responsible for the profusion of roadside bombings and drive-by shootings are more difficult to identify. Thai security officials say most of the attacks are carried out by a new generation of village-based militants who are part of a loose network of small cells scattered throughout the region. Sondhi Boonyaratglin, the Muslim general who led the coup against Mr. Thaksin and accompanied prime minister Surayud to the south Thursday, says it will take a long time for peace to be restored in southern Thailand. Mr. Surayud promised to purge what he called wrongdoers from within the ranks of civil servants in the region. Kraisak Choonhavan, a former senator, says security officials must not only be purged, but held accountable for cases of abusive behavior toward local residents. "This entails sacrifices, in fact, even punishment, of the wrongdoers, meaning on the government side, the security side, that has put to death a lot of people, that has violated a lot of human rights in the past," he said. Thailand's new government is also saying it is willing to talk to the insurgents. But until all those behind the violence are identified, few Thais expect the unrest to end. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
