Thai PM admits weapons smuggled to Aceh

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 19, 2004

Thai PM admits weapons smuggled to Aceh

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in Bangkok on Wednesday that some weapons had been smuggled from Thailand to Indonesia's Aceh for the rebellion movement there.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in Bangkok on Wednesday that some weapons had been smuggled from Thailand to Indonesia's Aceh for the rebellion movement there.

Thaksin made the remarks when asked whether some weapons from the Thai army had been smuggled to Aceh.

But he said it was unknown yet where the smuggled weapons were from, declining to say whether the weapons were those looted from a military arsenal in a string of attacks that rocked Thailand's southmost part on Jan. 4.

Unidentified armed men burned down 20 schools, killed four soldiers and robbed an arsenal of about 300 weapons in the attacks, which triggered off a string of violence in Thailand's three southern provinces, some 1,000 km south of Bangkok and close to Malaysia to the south.

The violence also raised doubts over the attackers' identities, which could be separatists or gangsters engaged in weapons smuggling.

The Thai and Malaysian intelligent agencies were working together to find out where the looted arms were hidden, said Thaksin.

In an ASEAN meeting on fighting transnational crimes held in Bangkok early January, one Indonesian delegate said weapons used by anti-government forces came from overseas including Thailand.

Meanwhile, the Thai government on Tuesday started to build fences along borders where territories of southern Thailand and Malaysia meet in an effort to prevent trouble makers from escaping capture by sneaking into Malaysia.

Thailand's south is home to most of the country's some 6 million Muslims, around 10 percent of the kingdom's total population.

The region has been disturbed by sporadic violence created by a handful of separatists grouping with gangsters engaged in weapons smuggling, money laundering and drug trafficking.

Questions?Comments? Click here

Thailand announces 5th patient dies of bird flu

Thai PM says cooked chicken and eggs safe

Thai researchers develop rapid amphetamine test kit

Chinese premier calls for government clean-up ( 26 Messages)

China reviews efforts to better serve people ( 7 Messages)

Japan decides to further cut back economic aid to China ( 60 Messages)

How 'sea turtles' turned out to be 'seaweeds'? ( 4 Messages)

CEO of Indian Wipro Industries: Chinese software industry can't catch up with India's ( 23 Messages)