Malaysia was not involved in violence in Thailand's far south despite
its flag being hoisted during a series of insurgent attacks in the region last
week, Ogosalim bin Omar, deputy secretary of Malaysia's National Security
Council, said yesterday.
Ogosalim and Brigadier-General
Zulkapri bin Rahamat, commander of the 6th Brigade in Sarawak state, met with
their Thai counterparts led by Colonel Rungroj Toungpao, deputy chief of Yala
Task Force, at a boundary checkpoint in Bannang Sata district to inspect the
boundary jointly and discuss cooperation on security.
During the meeting Ogosalim said
Malaysia and Thailand had had good relations for long time. There were regular
meetings and joint inspections of border areas to create better understanding
between military and security agencies on both sides.
Commander Zulkapri said Malaysian
officials expressed regret over the attacks last Friday in more than 100 sites
in the mainly Muslim part of Thailand, where insurgents raised the Malaysian
flag to challenge Thai authority.
The Malaysian military stepped up
security measures to control the border tightly right after the incident, he
said. Malaysia and its people were not involved in the incident, and Malaysia
will fully cooperate with Thailand to restore peace in the region, he said.
Meanwhile a roadside bomb injured
five patrolling soldiers, two seriously, on a pickup yesterday afternoon in Tak
Bai district in Narathiwat yesterday. The bomb was set off by a cell phone by
insurgents when the truck passed over a local bridge.
Violence has flared in the deep
south since early 2004, claiming thousands of lives since, while the Thai
authorities have struggled to contain the insurgency.
Police in Sungai Padi in
Narathiwat managed to defuse bombs yesterday planted at the railway and a road
in the district but road and rail transport was delayed for hours.
Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak
Sasiprapha called a meeting of the National Security Council as he prepared to
recommend that Cabinet should extend the state of emergency in the far south
today for another three months. NSC secretary-general Wichean Potephosree said
extending the Emergency Law would enable officials to work efficiently and
effectively.
In a separate development, a
police forensic team has confirmed that a fire in a department store in Narathiwat
last Friday was caused by a bomb.
Narathiwat provincial police
chief Maj-General Chote Chawalwiwat said bomb shrapnel was found and steel
shelving was bent by the force of a powerful explosion.
They think the bomb was placed on
shelving beside flammable products such as hair spray, and caused the blaze to
spread quickly.
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