Confronting a New Battlefield in Thailand

(Jakarta Post-Indonesia)Bertil Lintner - In early November, a Buddhist village leader was beheaded in Thailand's Muslim-dominated south. On Oct. 25, at least 84 Muslims died in the hands of Thai security forces. Many now fear that the Thai Buddhist majority may be drawn into a broader Islamic struggle. Thailand's three southern provinces once formed Pattani, an independent Muslim sultanate. Armed rebellions led by descendants of the Pattani sultans erupted in 1947 and 1948, and in 1960 the first organized separatist movement was formed. Operating from sanctuaries across the border in Malaya (now Malaysia), it worked to establish "an Islamic state." During the 1990s, the movement became increasingly associated with radical Islam. Purist Wahhabi teachings gained ground in numerous privately-run Islamic schools, and militants who had fought in Afghanistan returned home. According to Southeast Asian security agencies, the final goal is to establish an Islamic mega-state encompassing Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, southern Thailand, and the Muslim areas of the southern Philippines.


2004-11-30 00:00:00

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