Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who is in Thailand for the OIC's firstever official visit, spoke yesterday to many prominent Muslim leaders during a meeting at the Foundation of the Islamic Centre of Thailand in Bangkok.

"We consider all Muslim minorities to be under the Ummah (one Muslim community) doctrine, but Muslims should also be good citizens and respect the laws of the countries they live in," Ihsanoglu said.

However, Muslims should also "have the same rights as the rest of the population," he said.

Islam was "a religion of moderation and a religion of peace," he said. Any action against humanity was not acceptable, he added.

"People should not associate terrorists and violence with Islam," Ihsanoglu said in the meeting.

The government blames Muslim militants for orchestrating violence against the Buddhist dominated state, which has seen more than 2,000 people killed in the far South since January 2004.

The OIC was encouraged by the new government's policies toward Muslim minorities in the Kingdom, and the organisation would support measures taken by the government to solve the problems, he said.

Ismail Lutfi Japakiya, rector of Yala Islamic University, who addressed the meeting in Arabic, said the government should employ a peaceful and reconciliatory approach, as well as eliminate all conditions that cause and fuel violence.

"We should find ways to disarm local people and not arm them to make war against each other," he said.

Arong Suthasana, an academic from Prathumthani University, said violence in the deep South had become severe and that the victims were not only Buddhists but Muslims. There were also attempts to start a sectarian conflict between Buddhist and Muslim in the predominantly Muslim region.

Buddhists and Muslims used to live peacefully in the region, but had now become antagonistic towards each other, he said.

"Sooner or later, it will affect Muslims and Buddhists in every corner of the world. Conflict is easy to create, but difficult to eliminate," he warned.

The academic suggested a "special development region" as a solution to address problems of minorities in the region. It was not autonomy, but an approach to put all dimensions into the development, he said.

Angkana Neelaphaijit, chairperson of Working Group for Peace, suggested the emergency decree be abolished, as it opened the chance for human rights violations.

She also suggested the area be demilitarised and a programme imposed to control people's access to weapons.

Ihsanoglu paid a special tribute to Angkana and called on authorities to solve the case of her missing husband, lawyer Somchai, who "championed justice for Muslims".

"The OIC has followed the case and we're looking forward to seeing the verdict," he said.

The OIC shared Angkana's idea to revoke the emergency law and create safeguards to reduce torture, he said.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation