Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has asked officials to explore the possibility of granting an amnesty to militants in the Malay-speaking South as part of a government strategy to restore peace in the Muslim-majority region, which has been plagued by more than three years of almost daily killings and violence.

"At the policy level, I have no objection," Surayud told reporters. "I want the issue to be clearly discussed at the local level and accepted by all parties concerned. The government is ready to enact the [amnesty] law in the future."

Surayud said the goal was to draw the insurgents back into the country's "legal fold".

If approved, the amnesty would be the first time such a law had been implemented since the early 1980s - at the height of the Cold War - when the government granted a blanket amnesty to members of the Communist Party of Thailand in return for surrender.

The same was also applicable to Malay separatists operating in the deep South at around the same time.

The move crippled the military wings of various groups, such as the Patani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) and Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), and sent their leaders into exile in Malaysia and Europe.

The proposed amnesty would be aimed at a new generation of Malay-Muslim militants who surfaced on the scene in late 2001. The government did not officially acknowledge their presence until the January 4, 2004 raid on an army battalion in Joh I Rong, Narathiwat, when militants made off with nearly 400 heavy weapons.

An amnesty would guarantee that the surrendered insurgents would not face further legal charges for their participation in the insurgency, which has claimed more than 2,000 lives since January 2004.

The premier was in the deep South yesterday to inspect the region and obtain a first-hand briefing about the situation from officials on the ground.

Fourth Army Region commander Lt-General Viroj Buacharoon, who discussed the idea with the Prime Minister during a briefing at a military camp in Yala, said the amnesty would encourage low-level militants and sympathisers who were forced to join the insurgency to surrender to the government.

"Many militants were forced to commit terror acts against their will. They cannot run away from the insurgent movement unless the government provides legal protection for their return," he said.

"It's like the students who joined the communist insurgents in the 1970s," Viroj added. "We received massive defections after an amnesty in the early 1980s, resulting in our victory over the communists."

However, the amnesty would not cover those who committed serious crimes in accordance with the penal code, such as premeditated murder, Viroj said.

A government source said Prime Minister Surayud has consulted with the Justice Ministry and the Council of State—the government's legal advisory agency— as to how and when to issue the amnesty.

Surayud wants the amnesty to come into force during his administration, the source said.

Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation

Yala