The fate of 130 Thai Muslims who fled from Narathiwat over the border and now live in Malaysia's Terengganu state will be a topic of discussion when Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont visits Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

And so will the situation in regard to 20 suspected insurgent leaders, whose extradition was sought two years ago, government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said yesterday.

Yongyuth confirmed that the 20 suspects would be discussed but did not say whether Surayud would repeat his predecessors' request for the suspects to be extradited.

"The 20 suspects will be brought up, but under what context is yet to be determined," the spokesman said.

Thai intelligence sources said former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had handed the names of the 20 suspected insurgents to his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Badawi in October 2004 during their meeting in Phuket. They said Kuala Lumpur has been quiet about the matter ever since.

Diplomatic sources said Thailand's poor record of treating the suspected militants well may have been the main reason behind Malaysia's silence over the request, along with the fact that many of the accused have obtained Malaysian citizenship.

Surayud is due to make a one-day visit to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow to hold talks with Abdullah.

The visit comes amid gestures from Kuala Lumpur that it would be willing to facilitate peace talks between the Thai government and leaders of separatist groups after a year of informal talks between the two sides.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed facilitated the talks on the island of Langkawi, but Kuala Lumpur insisted the meetings were instigated on the former premier's private initiative.

Participants at the talks were both leaders and leading members of separatist organisations that emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s, who have expressed willingness to lower their demands and settle for something less than full independence.

But many security officials have said they do not think their return would end the violence in the strife-torn region, because the groups have virtually been superseded by a new generation of militants, organised in independent cells and active from within their respective villages and districts.

Thai officials said talks with the traditional separatist groups would go on but the government was likely to look for another venue for future talks with separatist leaders as they don't see Malaysia as the best broker because of doubts over Kuala Lumpur's partiality.

They said a significant number of separatist leaders and field commanders have been residing in Malaysia for decades and many have obtained Malaysian citizenship.

Bilateral ties between the two countries reached a low ebb in recent years amid the turmoil in the Malay-speaking south.

Authorities said the flight of the 130 Narathiwat villagers was generated by suspected militants who warned of an imminent crackdown and arrest of villagers.

A diplomatic row followed when Kuala Lumpur permitted the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to interview the displaced villagers.