YUWADEE TUNYASIRI WASSANA NANUAM ABDULLOH BENYAKAJ

The military would only add fuel to the fire if it continues to upset Muslims by using force in searching Islamic schools and letting inaccurate intelligence guide its operations, a southern academic said.

Worawit Bahru, vice-rector of Prince of Songkhla University Pattani campus, said the military kept upsetting Islamic religious teachers who had acted as allies, by raiding their schools on suspicion they were working for terrorist groups.

Mr Worawit said the use of force on Sunday to search a ponoh school in Pattani's Thung Yang Daeng district run by Abdul-rohni Kahama, a man who had worked for the Fourth Army for a long time, was a show of distrust.

``If you don't trust someone, why do you make him work for you? If you use him you must trust him or no one will want to work for you any more,'' he said.

Mr Worawit said the military's intelligence was poor and that made the situation worse.

``Soldiers broke in and searched the schools but found nothing illegal. That makes solving southern problems even more difficult as Muslims and ponoh schools do not want to help the military any more,'' he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh himself warned state authorities not to take the law into their own hands but treat southern people with understanding.

They must not raid schools but must seek to settle any misunderstanding at the negotiating table, he said.

Her Majesty the Queen had asked for peace and unity in the country.

Gen Chavalit said all sides involved in the southern violence should make the Queen happy by retreating from their confrontations and forgiving one another.

Ponoh and private Islamic schools in the deep South yesterday issued a joint statement saying they would no longer tolerate the use of force against schools as they had repeatedly asked the military to take Islamic religious leaders on school searches and to treat people there with respect.

Nideh Wabah, president of the Association of Private Islamic Schools in Five Southern Border Provinces, said he would ask the Education Ministry to make sure the Fourth Army knew it must not trample on the honour of Islamic schools. Islamic schools were planning a ritual to put a curse on Fourth Army chief Pisarn Wattanawongkeeree, believed to have ordered the Sunday searches on two ponoh schools in Pattani. Lt Gen Pisarn, however, said the searches were just routine checks and did not need his approval.