Peace teams agree to set up safe zone

The head of the government team handling peace talks with Mara Patani, an umbrella organisation of insurgent groups in the south of Thailand, said yesterday both sides had agreed in principle to creating a safe zone in the violence-plagued region.

However, the safe zone proposal has to be forwarded to officials implementing security operations in the South for consideration, said Gen Aksara Kerdphol, who leads the Thai negotiation team in the peace talks.

It is still uncertain whether an announcement will be made on Feb 28 declaring specific areas as safe zones as reported, he said.

Gen Aksara was responding to a Reuters report on Wednesday which quoted Maj Gen Sithi Trakulwong, who is involved in the talks, as saying both sides had agreed to the creation of a safe zone in one of the three violence-plagued southernmost provinces to show good faith.

Maj Gen Sithi also said the agreement would be finalised next week in Malaysia, which has hosted the discussions, once senior army officials arrive to conclude the talks, according to Reuters.

The safety zone would be an area where fighting would be off-limits, but the precise details of its location or size have not been made clear, the report said.

Gen Aksara said there are still differences of opinion regarding the exact definition of the term “safe zone” and both sides should try to reach common ground to ensure the agreement wins the trust of all groups of people who should not have to live in fear.

A new approach has been adopted for the talks in which it will no longer be accepted to float a proposal or impose conditions or debate who will gain and who will lose, he said.

The new approach would help turn the peace talks into an opportunity for both sides to work together to find what cooperation they can give to encourage public participation in the effort to end the violence and attract more groups of “people with different opinions” also to take part, he said.

Asked about reports the next round of talks with Mara Patani is planned for Feb 28, he said he didn’t want the media to pay attention only to details such as where, when and how the next round of talks will be conducted.

He said he’d prefer it if everyone waited to see whether the situation in the South improves as a result of the talks.

The government intends to resolve the unrest by peaceful means, he said. The United Nations, the International Human Rights Commission and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation supported the effort.