Kuala Lumpur: Rebels from Thailand’s restive south on Sunday said they wanted ‘liberation’ from the kingdom and laid out a catalogue of demands, a day ahead of talks aimed at ending a bloody nine-year insurgency.
Thailand held its first official peace talks with representatives of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) in Malaysia a month ago, but deadly attacks blamed on shadowy insurgent groups in the Muslim-majority south have continued.
Hassan Taib, a BRN representative, appealed in a video statement for southerners’ support for his group’s freedom struggle, saying they would administer the multi-ethnic area ‘fairly’.
“We shall obtain liberation, after that we can rule [the area] as fairly as possible,” he said, adding that the group, whose name translates as National Revolutionary Front, aimed to bring justice and prosperity to the area.
Hassan’s colleague in another video said BRN wanted Muslim-majority Malaysia to mediate the talks and called for observers from other regional countries and NGOs. He also urged the release of all detainees.
Thailand’s National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabut said he would meet Hassan and his colleagues for a fresh round of talks on Monday.
“We have heard their calls and we will talk to them tomorrow about their demands,” he said. “We have said clearly from the beginning that the talks must be held under Thailand’s constitution and Malaysia will act only as a facilitator. I think Malaysia will say the same because this is Thailand’s internal issue.”
More than 5,500 people have been killed in near-daily bombings and shootings in the south of Buddhist-majority Thailand since 2004.
Security personnel and those connected with the government are regularly targeted, as well as Muslims perceived to be collaborating with the authorities.
