KL grants access to Thai Muslims
Malaysia has granted Thai officials access to more of the 130 Muslims who fled across the border last year to escape violence in the South, caretaker Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon said yesterday.
Kantathi met his Malaysian counterpart Syed Hamid Albar on the sidelines of the informal Asean meeting here to discuss bilateral ties, including the situation in the South, which has occasionally strained relations between the neighbours.Malaysia, which has sheltered the Muslims since late last year, earlier allowed Thai officials to access and interview 99 of the 130 Muslims, enabling them to confirm their identities and try to convince them to return home, Kantathi said. Thai authorities guaranteed their safety if they returned home, which for most of the group is Narathiwat province. None of them is willing to return yet, however, Kantathi said. A total of 131 Muslims from the deep South sought refuge in Malaysia's northern state of Kelantan last year. Kuala Lumpur handed one of the group to Thai authorities when it was revealed an arrest warrant had been issued for him in connection with a raid on an Army camp in Narathiwat in 2004. The two ministers also agreed to postpone an annual consultation scheduled for next month until after a new Thai cabinet is sworn in. They said they meeting was not likely to be held until July or later. The two countries have held annual joint cabinet meetings since early in the tenure of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Supalak Ganjanakhundee The Nation Ubud, Indonesia
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