Insurgents kill imam in Narathiwat

Asae was hit in the head and leg, killing him on the spot. Police blamed Muslim militants for the killing.

In Pattani, the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) announced yesterday that the government will facilitate the visit of 1,000 residents from the deep South to visit their relatives who are being detained in army camps in the upper South under a controversial governmentsponsored reconciliation programme.

Several hundred male residents deemed "vulnerable" to taking up arms against the state have been rounded up over the past four months and sent to various army facilities to undergo "reeducation" that was promoted as "jobtraining" for young Muslims.

The plan to facilitate the visits was announced by Pattani's Governor Panu Utairat amid allegations that those who had been sent to these camps went against their will.