Thai PM makes emergency trip

Thai PM makes emergency trip

THAILAND: Thailand's prime minister made an emergency trip to the country's troubled Muslim-dominated south on Friday, officials said, after the death toll from escalating violence in the region climbed to 34 this year.

Thaksin Shinawatra flew to Narathiwat province just hours after local Muslim leaders announced they would resume cooperation with authorities investigating a series of attacks in the area, security officials said on condition of anonymity.

Last Sunday, the Islamic leaders had pledged to stop working with government officials looking into the attacks in the country's southernmost provinces because they found their tactics heavy-handed and disrespectful.

Elders from the Islamic councils of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces said they would begin cooperating again after they deliver a letter to Thaksin suggesting how local leaders can best work with officials. They didn't say when the letter would be sent. --AP