Police arrest five men suspected of firing into a protest march of Muslims in Yala’s Than To district yesterday. Nobody was hurt in the shooting.

The government will set up an "ad hoc special development zone" in five southernmost provinces in a new bid to restore peace in the restive region, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said yesterday.

The plan, adopted during a two-hour special Cabinet meeting on the South, would integrate resources to improve the well-being of people in the predominantly Muslim provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, as well as Songkhla and Satun.

There would be no change of jurisdiction of governing in the five provinces but the special zone would concentrate on economic development to create jobs for local residents in the troubled region.

The government will offer tax incentives for investment projects and improve infrastructure such as roads in the region, he said.

There would be no allocation of new funds and personnel. It would mostly rely on the budget and resource of current agencies working in the deep South.

 The government assigned Army chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin as the chief of Internal Security Operation Command to oversee the region while the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre would be the coordinator and the 43rd Civil-Police-Military Task Force would take care of security matters.

The government is struggling to contain the violence which erupted at the beginning of 2004 and has left more than 1,700 people dead.

Earlier yesterday, tensions ran high in Yala's Than To district as hundreds of people blocked a road and paraded a dead body to demand security officials take responsibility for the death of the young Muslim.

Marohyee Karoh, 16, was shot dead on Wednesday night while riding a motorbike with about 30 other Muslims into a village in Than To's Kirikhet sub-district. There was a confusing situation as the sound of gunfire was heard but nobody saw who shot the young man.

At about 11am yesterday a group of about 50 people - mostly women - met the district chief Surachai Wongsupalak and district police chief Colonel Alongkorn Simawuth to demand authorities bring the killer to justice.

The officials agreed but the protest did not end. The group returned from the district chief's office to Ban Pansurk village nearby to join with hundreds of people gathering to block the road between Than To and the village. The situation became tense as a group of young men on motorbikes joined the protest and barred any passing vehicles.

By 1.30pm the number of protesters was growing and some of them took Marohyee's dead body and carried it from the village to the middle of town. The protesters shouted and threw stones and sticks at a police outpost located in front of the district's central market on their way to the parade.

The sound of gunfire was heard throughout the gruesome parade. Eyewitnesses said protesters and security officials who were deployed to clear the demonstration fired into the air. Officials, observers and journalists ran to find shelter from stray bullets.

Officials accused the protesters of parading the dead body to foment anger and violence but the villagers argued they did not intend to stir up public sentiment. The parade was a part of funeral ceremony to honour the dead man before the burial. The parade ended at an Islamic cemetery.

Police later arrested five men on suspicion of firing guns during the parade to create mob violence. One of the five, Doramae Demae, 26, admitted he had fired his weapon into the air. But police believe he intended to shoot into the crowd of protestors to create chaos.

Yala Than To district is one areas officials believe has been infiltrated by militants who were manipulating the locals to resist the authorities.

Colonel Shinawatra Mandej, commander of the First Special Task Force, said insurgents dominated many districts in Yala including Bannang Sata, Raman and Yaha. They had created similar protests in the area several times in the last two weeks, he said.

Piyanart Srivalo,

Nakarin Shinworakomol

The Nation