Ties with OIC close and 'full of understanding'
Foreign Minister Kantathi Supha-mongkhon yesterday insisted that the relationship between Thailand and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) remains close and full of understanding despite the fact the OIC secretary-general raised concerns over the ongoing violence in southern Thailand.
At the opening ceremony of the 33rd Ministerial Meeting of the OIC, which took place from June 19 to yesterday in Azerbaijan, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the violence in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand was a critical matter. "Despite the fact that the OIC fact-finding mission visited Thailand in June 2005, followed by an exchange of letters between us and the government of Thailand, the situation in that part of the country remains a matter of serious concern," he said. "The root cause of the present unrest should be addressed in a way that takes into consideration the cultural, religious and the linguistic particularities of its population," he added. Kantathi, who attended the meeting, said via phone-conference that while the concern has been raised, several OIC countries members have expressed more understanding towards the issue. "They understand that the problem in the deep South is an internal matter and not a religious conflict. It's about extremists who use religion to justify their violent acts," said Kantathi. At the end of the three-day meeting the ministers of 51 nations released two documents related to Thailand. The first one was the final communique, article 68 of which emphasised the need for the OIC secretary-general to follow up on the conditions of Muslims in the southern provinces of Thailand in cooperation with the Thai government. The second document, on safeguarding the rights of Muslim communities and minorities in non-OIC member states, urges the OIC secretary-general to maintain his contacts with the Thai government to help achieve a just solution to the problems of the Muslims in southern Thailand within a framework of dialogue, respect, sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Kingdom. Kantathi added he also had an opportunity to discuss with the Malaysian foreign minister the claim made by Caretaker Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana last week that some of the explosives used in a recent spate of bombings in the deep South were made in Malaysia. Kantathi said there was no proof for such a claim and that the relationship between the two countries remained strong.
Sopaporn Kurz The Nation
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