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Published on February 6, 2008

This is one of the measures to control violence in the deep South.

Piset Sathirachawan, secretary of the Central Islamic Committee, suggested that Samak recall all weapons held by civilians in the South within three months. After that, he said, if anyone is caught with a hidden arsenal, they should be severely punished and maybe even executed.

All weapons possessed by civilians - whether owned with or without permission - should be recalled, he insisted.

Samak said he was interested in the idea, but said the toughest measure should be life imprisonment.

"I recalled what Her Majesty the Queen said a couple of years ago, that people in the deep South at present were not the people we knew 30 years ago. I remember during my time as interior minister, the atmosphere was just as HM the Queen had predicted," he said. "I wish I could turn back the clock and spend the next three or four years curing the wounds [from conflicts in the deep South]."

 The new premier also said that if all parties continued carrying arms, there would be no end to the unrest. "If all sides lay down their arms, we will have peace," he explained.

Samak said he was ready to take any recommendations from the Islamic committee, especially with regards to an education scheme that would encourage children in the region to study both religious and secular subjects.

He added he would have the army chief take care of the situation in the predominantly Muslim region, he said.

Previous governments have been struggling to contain the violence since the beginning of 2004, but murders have been taking place on an almost daily basis, with at least 2,800 people killed so far.

The latest incident was yesterday afternoon in Yala's Raman district when a village head and his assistant were gunned down. Militants sprayed bullets at a pickup truck carrying officials. Village head Nu Diphong and assistant Meesee Teng died instantly, while two others sustained serious injuries.

The Nation