Article 124

Security agency disputes `must end'

MUHAMAD AYUB PATHAN AND WASSANA NANUAM

Islamic clergy, businessmen and teachers' organisations have advised the Southern Border Provinces Peace-keeping Command to strengthen cooperation between anti-insurgent agencies and involve local people from all walks of life in building up defence capabilities.

Nimu Makaje, Pattani Islamic Committee deputy chairman, said the command, now with Gen Sirichai Tunyasiri as its new chief, must resolve any disputes between the security forces.

The key, he said, was to find solutions to separatist problems and formulate a unified implementation strategy.

He added it was equally important to explain the causes of southern hostility to ease mistrust.

Prasit Meksuwan, head of the Yala-based teachers' livelihood network, said the insurgency must be dealt with through peaceful means.

The authorities also needed to show they adhered to the rule of law in dealing with separatist suspects.

He suggested insurgent sympathisers be allowed to air views at an open forum.

He said the command had tended to emphasise combat operations too heavily and thought the right approach was engaging locals in separatist-infiltrated Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat in problem-solving mechanisms.

Pote Paiboonkasemsithi, Yala chamber of commerce president, agreed with the idea of public participation, which he said would bring the government closer to defeating the insurgents.

His opinion was that the security forces had operated in rather a ``disintegrated'' fashion since the first separatist attacks on Jan 4 when schools were torched and an armoury looted in Narathiwat.

Local business groups in the southern border provinces battered by the effects of the violence have asked the government for more help but their calls have fallen on deaf ears, he said.

Gen Sirichai, meanwhile, has begun studying the Koran in the hope of achieving a ``permanent victory''.

He believes that by understanding the Islamic faith, he will gain insights into insurgent ideology.

The general is reading a translated version of the Koran.

He said winning over people's minds was half the battle. ``We must get to know them [Muslims] and understand them,'' he said.

Gen Sirichai insisted use of force would prolong and not end the conflict. But he said force was necessary as a tool to maintain law and order while religious leaders and grassroots chiefs would be consulted on some security matters.

Although the daily killings by insurgents were still going on, he would not carry a gun as it would aggravate the atmosphere of suspicion when he visited local communities, he said.

Carrying firearms would also give the unpleasant impression of a ``battlefield situation'' which would fuel locals' sense of estrangement, he added.

Gen Sirichai directs the command which combines military and civil task forces and he has full authority over all security agencies in the deep South.