But he fell short of issuing a formal apology.

In his first meeting with religious leaders from the five southernmost provinces, Lt-General Viroj Buacharoon made references to the Krue Se and Tak Bai incidents, as well as to October 1976, when soldiers gunned down student-led pro-democracy demonstrators.

Viroj said one of the most important tasks at hand was to prevent such incidents from happening again and that there was a need to compensate the victims.

In April 2004, 32 suspected insurgents were killed after the authorities stormed a mosque at Krue Se in Pattani after a nine-hour stand-off.

At Tak Bai in October of 2004, 92 people died after a peaceful demonstration was broken up by authorities. Fourteen died when the authorities opened fire into the crowd, while another 78 died of asphyxiation after being loaded six-deep in the back of lorries for transportation to a military base.

"The only way to move on is to forgive the past mistakes. But all parties, especially the religious community, must help work towards a peaceful outcome," Viroj said.

Viroj singled out religious leaders, about 400 of whom showed up yesterday for a luncheon with him, as the most important group that could help the Army and the government achieve reconciliation in the region, where insurgent violence has claimed more than 1,700 lives since January 2004.

In his prepared speech, Viroj pointed out that while most of his military career had been spent in the region he was still learning when it came to Islam.

Nevertheless, he said the Muslim-majority community had shown that it had the capacity to forgive.

"I am not here to right the wrongs," Viroj said, "but I would be willing to compensate where possible for the sake of unity."

Since the ousting of Thaksin Shinawatra, the current government has made a number of goodwill gestures to the community, but leaders in the South said these must be backed-up with firm action. A growing number of academics and leaders have suggested that the government consider the possibility of political reforms that would guarantee the ethnic Malay residents more political and cultural space in administering their region as a way of achieving permanent peace.

Delivering the opening sermon at yesterday's meeting was Nidir Waba, one of the leading clerics in the region, who spoke in Arabic and Thai asking "all parties to be sincere and determined" in addressing the problem.

Other leading clerics attending yesterday's function included Ismail Lutphi Japakiya, the rector of the Yala Islamic College, and Waeduramae Mahmingji, chairman of the Islamic Committee of Pattani.

Don Pathan

The Nation

Pattani