Pulo accuses government-trained militia of mosque massacre

Southern Thailand Special - 28 Sep 07 - Part 1

Pulo accuses government-trained militia of mosque massacre

By The Nation

A prominent Malay separatist group has accused the Thai government of turning a blind eye to the massacre of 11 Muslims praying at a village mosque in Narathiwat's Cho I Rong district on June 8.

The Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo), in a statement on its website, accused government-trained militia of carrying out the attack against the Malay Muslim villagers at the al-Furqan mosque. The attack has driven a deeper wedge between the Thai state and the ethnic Malays in the deep South.

Pulo said Thailand's endorsement of the Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights was bogus and "masks the seemingly permanent acts of violence by its state institution" against Malay "subjects" in the deep South.

Government sources said Malay Muslim lawmakers from the southernmost provinces were working behind the scenes to push authorities to fully investigate the killing, saying the political future of these MPs was at stake.

Human rights organisations and local residents have accused security officials and government-trained militia of frequently carrying out arbitrary arrests and target killings in the region.

More than 3,500 people have died from the violence in the Malay-speaking South since January 2004.

Source : nationmultimedia.com