Speaking yesterday after the commission's final meeting, NRC secretary Gothom Areeya said several recommendations would be included in the 74page report to be handed to the next government.

The report will analyse the causes of violence in the three southernmost provinces where more than 1,200 people have been killed over the past two years. Tensions at individual, structural and cultural levels have been analysed by the body.

It will suggest several measures aimed at increasing the rights of communities and their ability to manage their resources and livelihood based on religious beliefs, Gothom said.

NRC chairman Anand Panyarachun said the longawaited report, which will be translated into Thai, English, Arabic and Yawi (Malay written in Arabic script), would be made public after its submission to the government.

Anand explained last week that the NRC would not submit the report to the caretaker government because it lacked the official mandate to take up the recommendations.

He said the NRC would encourage the public to enter a debate over which suggestions should be implemented.

The report, called "Winning Over the Violence with the Power of Reconciliation" has gone through six drafts, he said.

The NRC is an independent body with 48 members from academic, religious and professional backgrounds. The group convened in April last year and will be disbanded after submitting the report.

Sopaporn Kurz

The Nation