POST REPORTERS

The deputy governor of Pattani was shot and wounded early yesterday, but it was still not clear if he was attacked or hit by a bullet from a gun which accidentally discharged.

Reports from the scene of the shooting in Pattani's Yaring district, and from local hospitals, said Sunthorn Ritthipakdi was shot in the back about 12.20am.

The bullet, possibly from an HK-33 rifle, lodged in his intestines. Security officials scoured the scene but last night had still not found a spent bullet case.

It happened when Mr Sunthorn was waiting for a car to pick him up after visiting a village security team at Ban Thakun in Yaring district. Two team members were shot and wounded hours earlier.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on his arrival back from the Apec meeting in Chile yesterday morning that he was informed it was an accident.

Later, he said forensic experts had been told to determine if Mr Sunthorn was shot accidentally or if he really was the intended target of an attack.

``If he was really shot at, then they must say so,'' he said. ``If it was an accident, then it was an accident.''

Siva Saengmanee, deputy director of the Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command, said ballistics indicated that Mr Sunthorn was shot in the back from inside the school library. The gun was possibly an HK-33 rifle.

Doctors at Songkhla Nakharin Hospital in Songkhla's Hat Yai district, where Mr Sunthorn was being treated, said the bullet penetrated his abdomen.

Authorities said there were three theories _ Mr Sunthorn's own 9mm Glock pistol discharged, a gun in the hands of a body guard went off, or he was attacked.

Lt-Col Khomkrit Rattanachaya, commander of Special Infantry Battalion 501, said police and soldiers at the scene said they had not entered the school building. Nor had one of their guns been fired.

Lt Col Khomkrit said he was at Mr Sunthorn's side. He heard a gun go off and the deputy governor fell down and said he was shot.

``We all thought we were being attacked. We took cover and waited to see if there would be more shots, but things went quiet after that,'' he said.

Pattani police chief Thanacharoen Suwanno said because only one shot was fired it was assumed that it was an accident. Police, however, were waiting for medical reports before coming to a conclusion.

Mr Sunthorn was out of danger last night but was still on a respiratory system in the ICU. Their Majesties the King and Queen sent him a gift basket.

Deputy Interior Minister Sutham Saengprathum said he believed Mr Sunthorn was attacked by Muslim militants out to avenge the death of two of their members in a shoot-out with police in Pattani's Kapho district on Monday.

Militants may be looking to attack other high-level government officials, he said.

Elsewhere, garbage collector Boonchu Longprom was hit with an axe by a motorcyclist and slightly injured in Pattani's Sai Buri district yesterday .

In Kapho district, Pol Snr-Sgt Suwit Boonsiri was shot at while driving his pick-up truck, but was unhurt.

An intelligence source said owners of gold shops, hotels, business and land in the deep South had reported that unidentified people had come out and claimed ownership of their property. They said they were in fear and many wanted to sell up and move out.

The source said Islamic militants were believed to be planning attacks in several districts in Narathiwat in revenge for the recent deaths of Muslims.

Five schools were set on fire last night in Pattani: Ban Plong Hoy, Ban Lothu, and Ban Manae schools in Kapho district; Ban Rang Mod Daeng school in Mai Kaen and Ban Wangchai school in Sai Buri. Ban Lothu school was destroyed.

In Muang district, a Provincial Administration Department official, Mohamad Rosing, 32, was shot and wounded.
 

Witnesses want statements kept confidential
 

WASSANA NANUAM

Relatives of those who died in the Tak Bai tragedy and protesters who survived have asked to testify before the Pichet committee in secret.

Pichet Sunthornpipit, head of the independent inquiry set up by the government to probe the mass deaths, said witnesses want their statements kept confidential for their own safety.

The nine-member committee is now in the deep South gathering information related to the Tak Bai protest and the transport of protesters.

Mr Pichet said the information the panel has received from relatives and protesters differed from that provided earlier by the authorities.

Charan Maluleem, chairman of a sub-committee, had gathered preliminary information for the Pichet panel.

The committee will also interview 20 protesters being treated at Pattani Hospital. Most of them claim to have been tortured by security forces at the time.

A source said yesterday the panel will also question 26 marines and rangers involved in the use of force against the rioters and in charge of transporting them from Tak Bai to Pattani.

According to the source, the probe results will decide the fate of Fourth Army chief Lt Gen Pisarn Wattanawongkeeree, who was shifted to army headquarters after the carnage.

The Pichet committee was supposed to wrap up its inquiry by Nov 30 but it has asked for a 15-day extension.