Date:19/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/19/stories/2006061901801500.htm

International

Malaysia denies role in Thai violence

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Malaysia is understood to have refuted allegations that its territory had been used to assemble the low-intensity bombs that went off in several parts of restive southern Thailand on June 15. The issue, however, has not turned into a diplomatic row.

The series of apparently synchronised blasts claimed two lives and injured over 30 persons. One more person was reported to have been killed in an explosion, linked to the earlier blasts, on Saturday.

Thailand's Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana had said after the June 15 blasts that the bombs had been assembled in a foreign country. He did not name Malaysia, which borders Thailand, but the remark was widely interpreted as a veiled reference to Malaysia, and Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasathidya later downplayed the theory of a foreign hand.

Bangkok had, in the past, discussed with Malaysia the possibility that its territory was being used by Islamist separatists operating in southern Thailand. Malaysia has consistently denied any such role in the violence in the neighbouring country.