Handling of Thai insurgency slammed

01/09/2006 - 15:38:25
It’s time for the Thai government to drop its refusal to negotiate with leaders of a bloody Muslim insurgency in the country’s south, the powerful army chief said today, a day after 22 bombs exploded at banks, killing one and wounding 27.

Authorities arrested four suspects and were searching for more after yesterday’s near-simultaneous bombings in Yala province.

The attacks marked a dramatic spike in the insurgency in the south, which has killed about 1,500 people in two years.

Army commander, Gen Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, said the government needs to reverse its long-standing refusal to negotiate with insurgency leaders, whom he referred to as “snakes,” and that merely arresting sympathisers was not enough.