Published on October 16, 2005

The deputy chief of Mananghong village, Karerya Seumeng, 34, was killed yesterday by gunmen on a motorcycle who rode up behind him and fired three rounds at close range with a 9mm handgun, police said.

Pol Major Nukul Thanirat, the investigating officer from Pattani’s Tung Yang Daeng district, said he suspected the gunmen were members of a Muslim separatist group targeting government officials.

Police in Pattani also defused a 10-kg pipe bomb near the entrance to a temple. Officials said the bomb was wired to the components of a cell phone with SIM card.

Meanwhile, Professor Srisompob Jitpiromsri, from the political science faculty at Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani, said continued violence and failure to curb existing problems would make it even more difficult for the government to restore control.

Confusion, fear and violence will continue to prevail in the South in the coming year unless the government comes up with policies and strategies to change the situation, Srisompob said.

New problems will surface because of the violence while solutions for past and ongoing issues have yet to be found, he added.

Srisompob said that in the period 1993-2004 only 722 incidents were recorded, whereas from January to November 2004 there had been 1,253.

The intensity of the violence also increased with more loss of life, as well as friction and lack of trust among the Muslim, Christian and Buddhist communities, he said.

Questionable and harsh tactics are likely to create a negative reaction from the community, he said.

PATTANI

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