Deadline will not limit talks, Aksara vows

Deadline will not limit talks, Aksara vows

Deep South peace effort 'can't be rushed'

Gen Aksara Kerdpol, the newly-appointed chief negotiator for peace talks with insurgent groups in the deep South, has insisted his team is ready to hold the talks, but will not allow a time frame to be an obstacle.

Speaking yesterday after returning from Kuala Lumpur, Gen Aksara said the negotiation team is waiting for Malaysia — host of the talks — to supply more information about insurgent groups.

Aksara: Willing to speak to all groups

"We did not specify a list of groups for Malaysia as we are ready to hold talks with all those involved in the insurgency," Gen Aksara said.

"Please support the authorities in performing their peace talk duties. I will do my best to negotiate, but please do not put pressure on us or expect anything at the moment," he added.

Gen Aksara, who joined prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's one-day trip to Malaysia, said the premier had asked for Malaysia's assistance, including the handing over of 250 names of people who hold dual Thai-Malay citizenship to the Malaysian government for inspection.

"We asked Malaysia to run checks on 250 people with dual-citizenship, but this is nothing new. We have been cooperating on dual citizenship for a long time," he said.

The movement of people with Thai-Malay citizenship across borders has been a long-standing concern.

On the issue of dual citizenship, Gen Prayut said his counterpart, Najib Razak, supported talks on the issue because the problem directly affects the stability of both countries.

"We may set up a joint committee to take a look at people with dual nationalities and ask them to choose one nationality," the prime minister said.

Ten members of the negotiation team will be responsible for the talks. They will have help from the Internal Security Operations Command and National Security Council (NSC), Gen Aksara said.

The chief negotiator said his team would not dominate the peace talks, and that there are three levels of command involved in the peace effort.

There is the highest level, which Gen Prayut would lead; the negotiation level, led by Gen Aksara and his team; and the "coordinating level", led by Fourth Army Region commander Prakan Cholayut. "We have to be prepared and kick off the talks as soon as Malaysia is ready," Gen Aksara said.

The chief negotiator was approved by the Malaysian government yesterday when he was officially introduced in his new capacity. Previous intelligence had indicated that Malaysia preferred a civilian for the role.

Gen Aksara, who is currently the chairman of the army's advisory panel and a former chief of staff, is a close friend of army chief Udomdej Sitabutr.

NSC secretary-general Anusit Kunakorn, who also joined the trip to Malaysia, said officials from both countries will meet in the middle of this month to exchange information before confirming the details and setting a date for talks.

Meanwhile, Gen Prayut said yesterday he had handed over the names of fraudsters who were thought to have fled to Malaysia.

He did not mention whether southern businessman Sahachai "Sia Jo" Chiansoemsi, an alleged leader of an oil smuggling ring, was on the list.

Police have offered a one-million-baht reward for those who can provide information about Sia Jo and authorities have beefed up security on the southern border, especially at the Sugnai Kolok checkpoint. Local officials said there have been no new oil smuggling cases in the three months since members of the network were arrested.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT