BANGKOK, May 23 (UPI) -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on May 22 held a security meeting to examine rising violence in the country's three southern Muslim majority provinces.
The country's Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces have seen more than 1,000 people killed in sectarian violence since January 2004. More than 100 schools in Narathiwat have closed because teachers and students alike are afraid to go to school.
The Bangkok Post reported Monday that Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Chidchai Wannasathit and National Intelligence Agency director Police Lt-Gen Chumpon Manmai briefed Thaksin on the situation in the south, particularly on several "red zones" where insurgents are active.
The armed struggle for a separate Muslim state in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces began in the 1980s, led by the Pattani United Liberation Organization and Barisan Revolusi Nasional.
Thaksin is attempting to develop a comprehensive and finely calibrated security policy for the region, as violence continues to escalate. Organization of Islamic Countries Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has strongly criticized Thaksin's harsh approach in the government's confrontations with Thailand's Muslim minority.
