The leader of the deep South separatist movement, Sapae-ing Basor, died on Tuesday in Malaysia's Terengganu state, according to family members.
WANTED: Sapae-ing allegedly fled to Malaysia
The death of Sapae-ing, who led the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) Coordinate, was confirmed yesterday by the family to Wartani, a media company based in the deep South.
Funeral prayers will be held at Thamavitya Mulniti school in Yala at 9am tomorrow.
Sapae-ing has been sought out by authorities since 2004 due to his suspected involvement with a series of violent episodes in Narathiwat. Dozens of militants raided a military camp in the province's Cho Airong district, killing four officers and stealing around 100 M-16 rifles. At the same time, 20 schools in 10 districts in the province were torched.
In late 2004, four key figures in the BRN were arrested in connection with the Narathiwat events, while Sapae-ing reportedly fled to Malaysia. Allegations also emerged that he was responsible for the torching of 36 schools in the deep South in 1993.
A native of Yala's Yarang district, Sapae-ing was an Islamic religious teacher, or ustaz, at Thamavitya Mulniti school. He graduated from a university in Saudi Arabia. He also served as a member of Yala's Islamic committee, specialising in education.
It was widely believed that he had connections with politicians in the deep South. Authorities have closely supervised these ties over the years.
It's also been said that Sapae-ing was once poised to be a prime minister of Pattani State if the separatist movement was successful.
His death follows that of Masae U-seng's, a fellow fugitive separatist leader. He reportedly died of tuberculosis in a Malaysian hospital in May of last year. However, at the time, Thai authorities did not have sufficient information to confirm reports of his death.
Masae held a senior position in one of the six insurgent groups operating under the BRN.