Thaksin says Malaysia helping in rebel hunt
Thaksin says Malaysia helping in rebel hunt
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra said during a visit to Malaysia on Tuesday the two
countries were working together to hunt down separatist
militants, suspected of recent bomb attacks in southern Thailand.
"We are confident of the Malaysian (policy) towards the
separatists in Thailand," Thaksin told a news conference during
his one-day visit to Kuala Lumpur.
Several bombs exploded in Muslim-dominated southern Thai towns
early this month. A child was killed and dozens of people were
wounded in the blasts which Thai security officers blamed on
Muslim separatists.
"We receive tremendous cooperation and support of the
Malaysian government. We still receive more and more support,"
Thaksin said.
The Thai leader earlier held talks with Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Thaksin said they discussed bilateral
economic cooperation and "touched a little bit" on border
cooperation between their security forces.
Thai newspapers have quoted unnamed security sources as saying
Muslim separatist groups held a meeting in March in Kuala Lumpur
to plan sabotage in southern Thailand in April.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told Reuters late
on Monday that Kuala Lumpur would assure Thaksin it would not
allow separatist militants to operate from its territory.
"We will not allow Malaysia to be used as a launching pad or
training ground for any separatist movement or terrorist act from
our side," Syed Hamid said.
Thaksin said last week Thai police would send a list of up to
80 suspected separatist guerrillas to Malaysian police, in the
hope they would be arrested and sent back to Thailand for trial.
Most of Thailand's Muslims, about five percent of the
country's 62 million people, live in the five southernmost
provinces bordering mostly-Muslim Malaysia.
Up to the mid-1990s, the southern Thai provinces saw a wave of
bomb attacks on railway tracks and stations, most attributed to
Muslim separatist groups seeking independence from mainly
Buddhist Thailand.
A few decades ago, relations were less sure as Kuala Lumpur
suspected Malaysian communist insurgents crossed the border from
Thailand, while Bangkok believed Muslim separatists were hiding
out in the hills and jungles on the Malaysian side of the border.
Pipeline
Officials also said on Tuesday that following the warm talks,
Thailand agreed to push ahead with a stalled gas pipeline
venture.
Thaksin, heading a high-powered 71-member delegation, was
greeted by a military honor guard when he arrived at the
administrative capital of Putrajaya to start his first overseas
visit since taking office in January.
After talks between the two premiers and delegations from both
sides, Syed Hamid said Thailand was committed to the pipeline.
The pipeline will transport gas from the Malaysia-Thailand
Joint Development Area along their maritime border. It has been
stalled by strong opposition from Thai environmental groups.
Syed Hamid said the Thais had promised to try to resolve the
problems within three months. "Our understanding is that the
project will go ahead ... they are not going to stop the
project," he told reporters.
The project is a joint venture between Malaysia's state energy
firm Petronas and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.
Syed Hamid said Malaysia wants work to start as soon as
possible since costs were accumulating daily and most were borne
by Petronas.
Talks, which Syed Hamid described as "very very friendly and
warm," also covered a variety of economic issues.