Officials vow to help victims of attack on Ban Sea Sae Mosque
Several thousand Yala residents join a street demonstration in the southern border province’s Betong district yesterday to denounce Wednesday’s brutal slaying of nine Buddhist passengers in a shuttle van. They called for tougher action from authorities ag
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Some 100 Muslims, mostly women and children, ended a protest yesterday in Yala's Yaha district after authorities agreed to take responsibility for the rehabilitation of all 11 victims of Wednesday night's bomb attack on a mosque, an official said.
The villagers cleared the road they had blocked while railing against the authorities' failure to protect them. They carried placards saying, "Why bomb here? Bring peace and justice to us", and shouted "Allah u Akbar" (God is great) throughout the protest.It started at 7am and ended at 10.30am after district chief Supanat Sinranthawineti promised to take care of the wounded and bring the assailants to justice quickly. The attack on Ban Sea Sae Mosque took place after eight Buddhist passengers of a commuter van were massacred in the same district earlier that day. The bombers might have wanted to make their work look like an act of revenge to create a rift between the two religions. Niday Waba, an Islamic religious leader and president of the Southern Private Islamic School and Po Noh Club, said some parties were trying to drive a wedge between Muslims and Buddhists in the region. "As the divide gets deeper, I'm worried it could develop into a civil war if the government is still helpless in containing the violence," he said. Niday, who is also an adviser to the prime minister, said the militants had the capability to control and manipulate the movements of local people in many areas in the predominantly Muslim region while the government's reach was limited. The insurgents could mobilise support from the locals to orchestrate unrest, which erupted in the beginning of 2004 and has claimed some 2,000 lives so far. In more violence, Chua Pichit, 53, was wounded in a gun attack while cycling to buy rubber in Ban Papoh of Yala's Muang district. In Narathiwat's Rangae district, Thanet Sriwangkaew, a clerk at a rubber wood factory, was shot three times in the chest while working in his office and died instantly. Meanwhile, Democrat Party deputy secretary-general Nipon Bunyamanee yesterday called for appointing a minister to solve the violence in the South. Nipon said it was time the government gave someone the power to make swift decisions and quickly respond to events in the three southernmost provinces. Leaving the situation in the hands of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre no longer suffices, he said. Officials in the provinces lack confidence in the government's policies. "Local military and police officials need guidance and a clear understanding of what to do," Nipon said. The Nation Yala
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