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You "may" have already seen this article, but I'm passing it on for
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<div><font face="Courier New">BANGKOK Muslim insurgents in Thailand
have stockpiled more than 7,000<br>
weapons and have trained with Indonesian militants to wreak violence in<br>
southern Thailand, a former army commander said Monday.<br>
<br>
Kitti Rattanachaya, a retired army general who was praised for<br>
maintaining the peace in southern Thailand in the 1990s and has been a<br>
security adviser to the government, said its mishandling of the<br>
situation could cause it to deteriorate.<br>
<br>
"There is still no light at the end of the tunnel," Kitti said.<br>
"Eighteen months after the government started deploying massive numbers<br>
of troops into the region, the situation is getting worse. The<br>
separatist movement has complete control of the people. Only the land<br>
belongs to us, but the people belong to the movement, 100 percent."<br>
<br>
A decades-old Muslim separatist movement in southern Thailand died<br>
down in the late 1980s after the government granted an amnesty.<br>
<br>
But the violence surged early last year and has resulted in more than<br>
880 deaths in the last 18 months.<br>
<br>
The three southernmost provinces are the only Muslim majority areas in<br>
predominantly Buddhist Thailand. Southerners have long complained of<br>
discrimination in education and jobs.<br>
<br>
Kitti said that many of the guns stockpiled by the separatists had<br>
been stolen from the police and the army, including weapons seized in<br>
an attack on an army camp that started the latest offensive.<br>
<br>
On Jan. 4, 2004, a group of armed men stormed a camp in Narathiwat<br>
Province, killing four soldiers and stealing more than 400 weapons,<br>
mostly assault rifles. The raid prompted the government to send more<br>
than 50,000 soldiers to the region.<br>
<br>
Kitti cited intelligence sources as saying that at least seven<br>
Indonesian Muslim militants had gone to the south to provide training<br>
for the Muslim rebels.<br>
<br>
"Things are getting worse because the government doesn't accept the<br>
fact that this is a movement of terrorists and separatists," he said.<br>
<br>
Defense Minister Thammarak Isarangura said the situation was under<br>
control and that locals would be trained to defend themselves against<br>
the militants. "The situation is calming down," he said, "and in some<br>
areas, daily attacks on innocent people have decreased by 50 percent."<br>
<br>
Regional police statistics show that from January to June 20, at least<br>
207 people had been killed and 601 people had been wounded in<br>
hit-and-run attacks, bombings and beheadings.</font></div>
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<div><font face="Courier New">Ken Bower</font></div>
<div>"The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes" <br>
Frank Lloyd Wright</div>
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