|
|
 |
| Sunday, 31 March 2002 |
 |
|
 |
World |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Tightest-ever
security for Thai cabinet meeting in troubled south NARATHIWAT, Thailand, March 30 (AFP) - Thailand's cabinet met Saturday in this troubled southern provincial capital amid what the country's police chief has described as the "tightest security plan ever". Snipers, Special Branch officers and commandos with bullet-proof vests were seen guarding the every move of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his 35 cabinet ministers who arrived here Friday. The "mobile" cabinet meeting, the latest in a series initiated by Thaksin, was planned before the outbreak of a spate of violence which has left eight police officers and a teacher dead. Some 1,560 personnel -- an average of 43 per minister -- comprised the security detail, according to Lieutenant General Kowit Wattana who is supervising security surrounding the meeting. Armed patrols could be seen combing hotels, conference halls, transport routes and outdoor areas of Narathiwat and beyond, while police set up checkpoints along various roads leading to the city. "There was no report of any irregular movement in the last two to three days, but I can not yet say that security has been a success as the cabinet meeting is still in progress," Kowit told AFP. Under heavy guard, the roaming cabinet visited Pikultong, a royal-sponsored agriculture project, and were due later Saturday to meet with governors from the five predominantly Muslim southern provinces. Police chief General Sant Sarutanond said ahead of the trip that security forces would be on heightened alert over the weekend under the "tightest security plan ever". "We cannot afford to be reckless," he said earlier this week. Southern Thailand has been rocked over the past two weeks by the police killings, which the government has blamed on conflicts between local police and military units, and a pair of bomb blasts which coincided with an inspection visit to the region by Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon. "There were only some 35 trouble makers who have divided into small groups of three to five people," Purachai told reporters late Friday in reference to gangs accused of carrying out the attacks. "Local politicians hired them to stage unrest." Two men suspected of involvement in the killings in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat have been arrested, according to reports Saturday. Thaksin has sought to distance the attacks from violence linked to separatist groups known to be operating in the provinces bordering Malaysia. The premier met with Islamic groups in the region who urged him to purge the south of terrorist threats and improve Muslim education, reports said. The premier also shrugged off the threat of attacks on the cabinet. "The dog that barks does not bite," he was quoted as saying in the Nation newspaper. "Everyone has one's own destiny. If you are going to die, wherever you are, you die." The cabinet meeting concludes Sunday. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
