US Intelligence Law Targets Muslim World

KANGAR, December 23 (IslamOnline.net) – Thai Muslim leaders have criticized the government’s accusations that “militants” were being trained in neighboring Malaysia, urging the authorities to rather focus on the roots of the problem in the troubled south.

Yala Islamic Council President Abdulrrahman Eesee said the claims lacked evidence and were merely based on suspicion, reported the Star newspaper Thursday, December 23, on its We site.

He cautioned that attempting to embroil Malaysia would affect the existing cordial ties and cause mistrust between the two neighbors.

The Muslim leader urged the government, instead, to address the roots of the problem in the southern provinces.

Several Thai officials last week opened salvos at Malaysia over the unrest in the southern provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, which claimed some 560 lives this year alone.

“If you ask me where they (militants) have been trained, absolutely one group of them has been trained in Malaysia, but we believe it was done without the knowledge or support of the Malaysian government,” Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters Friday.

“They were trained in the jungle of Kelantan state in Islamic schools there,” he said.

Deputy Home Minister Sutham Saengprathum later said Bangkok had photos of Thai militants undergoing military training in Malaysian jungles.

Far-Fetched

Pattani Muslim Association Secretary Tengku Zainal Abidin Tengku Chik said Thaksin had “jumped the gun” and had not checked his facts before levelling accusations at Malaysia.

“It looks far-fetched. I know that Malaysia is a peaceful neighbor and has always sought to maintain the best relations with us,” he added.

On Monday, December 20, Thaksin said the media had “distorted” his remarks on the issue.

Malaysia said it has no knowledge of camps used to train “militants” as alleged by Thaksin and other officials.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Sunday, December 19, stressed that “Malaysia is not a base that can be used by any group planning to take action against another country.”

Other officials accused Thaksin of publicly linking Malaysia to the renewed unrest in southern Thailand to divert attention from his handling of the situation.

“If the Thai government has such information, it is better that Malaysia be informed about it confidentially through the official channel,” said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“But so far, from our information, there are no such camps in the north of the Malaysian peninsula.”

Najib said that Malaysia was still waiting for Bangkok to send a report on the matter and include photographs and a list of those involved.

He said it was now incumbent on Bangkok to furnish details of the allegation for further action.

“The ball is at their court. They made the allegation, not us,” said the minister.

Asked if sealing off the border with Thailand was an option weighed by Malaysia, he said that at the moment it was not.

Critics at home and abroad have accused Thaksin's government of using heavy-handed tactics against Thai Muslims.

Concerns over the oppression of Muslims in southern Thailand cast a shadow over the ASEAN summit.

The Thai premier threatened to walk out of the summit if leaders raised the conditions of Muslims in the restive south, insisting it was a domestic problem.

On October 25, a total of 87 Muslims died after Thai troops broke up a protest at Tak Bai in the southern province of Narathiwat with tear gas, water cannon and gunfire.

The majority of victims suffocated or were crushed after being bound and left for hours on trucks.

On April 28, security forces clashed with Muslims in southern Thailand and opened fire killing at least 107 Muslim youths in the bloodiest day in the history of this troubled region.

About 500 people have been killed over this past year in the South.

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist nation but about five percent of the population is Muslim, and most live in the five southern provinces bordering Malaysia.

Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat are the only Muslim majority provinces in Thailand.

Muslims in these provinces have long complained of discrimination in jobs and education and business opportunities.