Army chief sceptical ofceasefire
WASSANA NANUAM & KING-OUA LAOHONG
Three Muslim men claiming to be leaders of separatist insurgent groups in the far South announce a ceasefire in a video made in Germany and screened on Channel 5. |
Army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda has refused to give credence to the surprise ceasefire announcement by three Muslim men claiming to control 11 insurgent groups operating in the restive southern border provinces.
Gen Anupong said yesterday the group had talked to Gen Chettha Thanajaro, the leader of coalition party Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana, rather than going to the proper state authorities.
He refused to accept that the men had the power to control southern insurgency groups.
In a pre-recorded video broadcast by army-run Channel 5 television station yesterday at noon, three unnamed Muslim men claiming to have 11 insurgent groups in their charge said they had stopped attacks in the three southernmost provinces.
Speaking through a translator (right in picture), one of the men (left) said they had ceased their violence without condition from last Monday at noon and would support the peace process.
They called their group Thailand United Southern Underground (TUSU).
Channel 5 broadcast the announcement at the request of Gen Chettha, who is a former army chief.
The clip was also broadcast via satellite to 150 countries worldwide.
Gen Anupong said the announcement took the army and Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej by surprise.
His staff only managed to identify the leader of the men in the video clip as Madipeng Khan, who led an active insurgent group in the three southernmost provinces from 1984 to 1987, Gen Anupong said.
The man had tried to make himself the leader of other insurgent groups in the region, but failed to win their respect and cooperation, he said.
Army spokesman Col Akara Thiprote said Gen Chettha had not told the Fourth Army, which is in charge of southern security, of his negotiations with the Muslim groups.
Col Akara said Fourth Army chief Lt-Gen Wirot Buacharoon regarded the ceasefire announcement as the work of a civic group led by Gen Chettha.
Three veteran military intelligent officers said yesterday they had never heard of the TUSU leader before.
Chamroon Den-udom, chairman of the Southern Muslim Cultural Foundation and former commander of Region 4 Border Patrol Police, identified the three men in the footage as former leaders of the old Pulo (Pattani United Liberation Organisation) group: Hajji Sama-ae Maruebo (left), Lukman Binlima (centre) and Ustas Asis (right).
Gen Panlop Pinmanee, the former deputy director of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), said the announcement could be a bid by TUSU to boost its profile and assert its leadership over other insurgent groups.
Gen Chettha said yesterday he would take sole responsibility for the consequence of the ceasefire announcement.
He said he could not confirm if the announcement would bring an end to the violence in the South.
As to whether the TUSU leaders were real leaders of the insurgency movement in the South, Gen Chettha said his team had tried their best and he believed the effort to bring about peace was worthwhile.
Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana leader said he, like everyone else, would have to wait and see if the insurgents really did cease their attacks.
Gen Chettha said he did not arrange the talks with the TUSU on behalf of the government.
People from several countries had been involved in the arrangements.
He affirmed, however, that one of the three men was a top leader of a major insurgent group with several smaller groups under its umbrella.
''They confirmed to me and the mediation team that they are leaders of the insurgency in the South and we have strong confidence in that.''
He had kept Gen Anupong informed about the talks, he said.
A military source said Gen Anupong watched the footage with Gen Chettha on Wednesday before ordering Channel 5 to air it. The video was recorded in Germany.
A few hours after the ceasefire announcement, gunmen ambushed a pick-up truck carrying rangers on a road linking Yala's Muang and Betong district in the red-zoned Krong Pinang area. A soldier was shot in his left wrist.
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