Out in the open: A man watching a video broadcast by alleged separatists of southern Thailand's insurgency, at a supermarket in Yala province yesterday.Picture: Reuters
Friday, July 18, 2008
A GROUP professing to lead the separatist insurgency in Thailand's south announced a ceasefire in a satellite television broadcast yesterday.
Three men from a group calling themselves Tai Ruam Pak Tai Khong Prathet Thai (Thailand's United Southern Underground group), said they had negotiated a ceasefire beginning July 14.
"From July 14 onwards, all the militant and political units of our group will support peace formation in Thailand," said the group's leader, who did not give his name.
"It has been nearly 100 years since this conflict began so we hope to bring peace back to Thailand to help the people live well."
Hours before the broadcast, ex-army chief and former defence minister General Chetta Thanacharo appeared on the same channel to announce he had brokered a deal with the group.
Chetta, leader of the Ruam Chai Thai Chart Pattana party, a minor member of the governing six-party coalition, told Channel 5 he would take full responsibility if violence resumed.
"They must prove their intention to cease their activities for the sake of sustainable peace in the south," the general said. "Everything is not 100 per cent certain."
Official army spokesman Colonel Acra Tiproch later sounded a sceptical note, telling media that Chetta had not discussed the ceasefire with army officials.
"There has never been any coordination," Acra said.
"We do not know about this operation. It has come from the civilian community, not from the military. It may be that General Chetta is trying to help bring the country to peace," he said.
The separatist conflict in the southern provinces bordering Malaysia has claimed 3,300 lives in the past four years and authorities have struggled to identify the rebels, who rarely claim responsibility for attacks.
The region was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until Thailand annexed it in 1902, provoking decades of tension.
One of the men who appeared on television to announce the ceasefire said he was in charge of 11 sets of insurgents including known militant groups called PULO and RKK. He also called on other groups to end their activities.
However, some analysts expressed doubt about the claims, which came after bombs exploded on Wednesday outside two police stations in the violent border provinces of Yala and Pattani, wounding seven people.
AFP
Three men from a group calling themselves Tai Ruam Pak Tai Khong Prathet Thai (Thailand's United Southern Underground group), said they had negotiated a ceasefire beginning July 14.
"From July 14 onwards, all the militant and political units of our group will support peace formation in Thailand," said the group's leader, who did not give his name.
"It has been nearly 100 years since this conflict began so we hope to bring peace back to Thailand to help the people live well."
Hours before the broadcast, ex-army chief and former defence minister General Chetta Thanacharo appeared on the same channel to announce he had brokered a deal with the group.
Chetta, leader of the Ruam Chai Thai Chart Pattana party, a minor member of the governing six-party coalition, told Channel 5 he would take full responsibility if violence resumed.
"They must prove their intention to cease their activities for the sake of sustainable peace in the south," the general said. "Everything is not 100 per cent certain."
Official army spokesman Colonel Acra Tiproch later sounded a sceptical note, telling media that Chetta had not discussed the ceasefire with army officials.
"There has never been any coordination," Acra said.
"We do not know about this operation. It has come from the civilian community, not from the military. It may be that General Chetta is trying to help bring the country to peace," he said.
The separatist conflict in the southern provinces bordering Malaysia has claimed 3,300 lives in the past four years and authorities have struggled to identify the rebels, who rarely claim responsibility for attacks.
The region was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until Thailand annexed it in 1902, provoking decades of tension.
One of the men who appeared on television to announce the ceasefire said he was in charge of 11 sets of insurgents including known militant groups called PULO and RKK. He also called on other groups to end their activities.
However, some analysts expressed doubt about the claims, which came after bombs exploded on Wednesday outside two police stations in the violent border provinces of Yala and Pattani, wounding seven people.
AFP