Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra dissolved the civilian-led administration centre in mid-2001, arguing the situation in the Muslim-majority South had returned to normal. He also dissolved the centre's security wing, the Civilian-Police-Military Task Force 43.

At the time analysts said the move was a setback because the SBPAC was perhaps the only agency that considered the cultural, political and security needs of the Malay-speaking region.

It was also a channel for local community and religious leaders to air grievances.

CNS chairman General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said the new body would be a civilian-led agency. It had been renamed the Southern Border Provinces Development Centre.

"It will be administered by Interior and its mandate is to foster peace, reconciliation and development in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, Satun and four districts of Songkhla.

"This is a broader area than that covered by the past centre - Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat," Sonthi said yesterday.

It is not clear how the two-year-old, Thaksin-initiated, military-led Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command fits into the picture.

Fourth Army Commander Lt-General Viroj Buacharoon currently heads the multi-agency outfit.

It is reported to be a hotbed of rivalry between the various security and intelligence agencies.

However, Sonthi said the command would be reorganised along with the new agency but its final mandate and chain of command had yet to be determined.