Paradorn says govt has accepted BRN's five conditions for discussions
The National Security Council chief yesterday rejected any connection between the government's peace dialogue with southern separatists and Wednesday night's drive-by shooting that killed six people and seriously wounded one person in Pattani.
NSC secretary-general Paradorn Pattanatabut affirmed that the dialogue process would continue.
Recent violent attacks by insurgents in the deep South have often followed peace talks between Thai authorities and leaders of the separatist movement. The latest meeting took place in Malaysia on Monday.
The attacks came amid reports of dissatisfaction among some insurgents over the dialogue.
After a meeting of relevant agencies yesterday on the Southern Unrest with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Government House, Paradorn said Yingluck had followed up on projects to tackle the region's violence, especially vocational development and other dangerous factors related to violence such as drug trafficking and trading of illegal items.
After the Pattani governor reported Wednesday's drive-by killings, Yingluck was told by other provincial governors and the Army chief that the region's security would be beefed up. She suggested that more security officials be dispatched to the problematic areas, Paradorn said.
The NSC chief said the drive-by crime had nothing to do with the dialogue because those who had launched the attack were extremists. They had even left a note claiming the attack was an act of revenge.
He added that authorities were investigating this case. The weapons used in this attack were initially found to have been used in 19 other cases since 2007.
Paradorn, however, was still confident that the daily attacks remained in the controlled areas, and were not spilling over.
Asked whether the meeting discussed the Army's rejection of the five-point proposal of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), Paradorn replied that Thailand had accepted the proposals for consideration as it was claimed to be the demands of the local people. The government would engage in fact-finding and host public forums.
He said Yingluck had urged them to accept it for consideration and get relevant agencies to discuss it later. He urged the Thai public not to worry because the government's intention when it signed on for the peace dialogue in February was to adhere to the Thai Constitution.
Asked whether the dialogue process should be halted because of the continued violence, he said the two sides would try to keep it going as the dialogue needed to be consistent. He said the Army also backed the dialogue process. He said NSC had always assessed the southern situation and discussed it with the Operations Centre of the Committee to Mobilise Policy and Strategy to Solve Problems in the Southern Border Provinces.
Asked when the dialogue would be elevated to "negotiations", he said there had to be a lot of mutual trust among the parties to reach that point. He revealed that at the latest session, there was no veiling of faces. Citing the separatist representatives as saying that they had communicated to all operative groups in the region, he said the government would observe the result of BRN's attempt to reduce the violence from now on.
Paradorn said the Malaysian election result should not affect the next dialogue session because the neighbouring country served as a facilitator and all sides in Malaysia agreed with the process because of the mutual benefits from peace in Thailand's deep South.
Yesterday's high-level meeting resolved to assign PM's Office Minister Nivatthamrong Boonsongpaisal to be the main figure responsible for calling press conferences on government measures to deal with the insurgency problem in the deep South, according to a source who took part in the meeting.
Meanwhile, Pattani Governor Pramuk Lamun said the Wednesday drive-by attack was a brutal move targeting innocent people. He said authorities suspected the role of a group led by a wanted, leading member of Runda Kumpulan Kecil - Masore Deuramae - who operated in tambon Pakaharang in Pattani's Muang district.
He said the attack might have been a response to the authorities' rounding up of some sympathisers late last month and of some 100 drug suspects in tambon Pakaharang. He said Masore himself was surrounded at the time but had narrowly escaped.
Regarding the note copies found on Siroros Road in Yala's Muang district after the drive-by, Muang Yala police superintendent Lt-Colonel Phrompat Sanitsri said the source of the note was being investigated. The note, reportedly addressed to fellow "warriors of Fatoni", said the recent deaths of four had been avenged through the six deaths in Pattani. It said the authorities should remember that they would kill anyone, including children or women, until their demands were accepted.
Meanwhile, Pattani Senator Anusart Suwanmongkol, the chairman of a Senate committee on compensation for people affected by the southern violence, urged the government to review the dialogue plan with the BRN after the recent upsurge in violence in the region. He said dialogue had not improved the situation.
He said the five demands also were not from the locals because those talking to the government were not even known to the local people and hence they had no authority to tackle the violence.
Urging the government not to imperil the lives of locals for the sake of political popularity, he warned that the separatist movement was trying to elevate the issue to bring in international intervention.
Latest stories in this category
- Public still in dark on water project
- Today sees the bidding on the flood-prevention..
- Shootings 'not linked' to dialogue
- GPO director says paracetamol probe hasty
We Recommend
- Gold still solid investment, despite recent price plunge,..
- Despite the biggest two-day falls in 30 years on..
- PM: Speech not meant to help Thaksin
- Reds urge mass rally at court
Comments conditions
Users are solely responsible for their comments.We reserve the right to remove any comment and revoke posting rights for any reason withou prior notice.
Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/05/03/shootings-not-linked-to-dialogue/
0 comments:
Post a Comment