Article 58

Buddhists, Muslims asked to unite

WASSANA NANUAM

Her Majesty the Queen has suggested that Buddhists and Muslims help each other in providing security for their villages.

The Fourth Army plans to launch ``a self-defence volunteer village project'' to help them.

Fourth Army commander Lt-Gen Pisarn Wattanawongkeeri said the Queen had asked the Fourth Army to coordinate with the Royal Aide-de-Camp Department, police authorities and governors of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani provinces to get the project in southern border provinces off the ground. The Queen gave her advice last week at the Thaksin Ratchanives Palace in Narathiwat province.

Under the project, local Buddhists and Muslims would be trained to become guards to protect their villages.

``The Queen wants Thai Buddhists and Thai Muslims to live in peace and harmony. She wants local Buddhists and Muslims to join forces to protect their villages and bring about unity among the locals,'' said the Fourth Army commander. A rift deve! loped in Narathiwat between Buddhists and Muslims following the beheading of a Buddhist rubber tapper in May.

The project would also provide weapons training to local residents. In each village, 100 villagers _ 50 Buddhists and 50 Muslims _ will be chosen to undergo the training. The Interior Ministry will distribute guns to the villagers while police officers will feed them with legal knowledge. The training, which will take 15 days, would also include occupational training. He said the project would first be launched in Narathiwat province as the Queen had planned to see a training session there on Sept 28 before returning to Bangkok. The project would later be launched in Yala and Pattani.

The Queen has donated more than 10 million baht for the purchase of 644 rai of land in Kampaeng village in tambon Kaluvonua of Muang district, Narathiwat for the resettlement of relatives of those who had been killed in violent attacks in the deep South since January. The! plot is close to the Thaksin Ratchanives Palace.

So far 144 re latives of civilians and officers killed in the attacks have shown their intention to live in the royally-donated plot, said Lt-Gen Pisarn.