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Thai officials oppose talks with Islamic leader

Top Thai security officials oppose their government's plan to hold peace talks with an exiled Islamic insurgent leader, saying it would only legitimize his underground group blamed for much of the continuing violence in Thailand's Muslim south.

"Thailand will gain nothing from talking with those aging men who want to upgrade the internal conflict into an international issue," Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, a former army chief now in charge of defense, told reporters yesterday. He did not elaborate.

Chavalit's warning came a day after the government announced that it has established unofficial contacts to begin peace talks with Wan Kadir Che Man, the leader of Bersatu, an umbrella group of three insurgent organizations.

He lives in exile in neighboring Malaysia.

Wan Kadir reportedly said this week that he is willing to give up a century-old demand for a separate Muslim homeland in the south, the only Muslim-majority area in predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

Wan Kadir's apparent willingness to talk about autonomy for Muslims is seen by some in Thailand as a major step in ending recent violence in the south that has left more than 200 people dead this year alone.

However, Pallop Pinmanee, the deputy director of International Security Operations Command, also warned that holding talks would be walking into Bersatu's trap. ISOC is similar to the CIA.

"Once they hold talks with the official delegates from the Thai government, Bersatu would get financial support from the Muslim world and become a legitimate organization in the eyes of the Muslims," Pallop said.

He said Bersatu had twice tried to get the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference to have its struggle recognized, but failed because it was not engaged in negotiations with the government.

Meanwhile, the army commander in charge of the south, Lieutenant-General Pisarn Wattanawongkhiri, who was assigned by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to start the talks with Wan Kadir, said he is going ahead with his mission.

"The contact is ongoing and I think we can meet in the next few days," he said, declining to reveal the location of the meeting.
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