Thai Muslim group welcomes army talks offer

BANGKOK, Sep 3 (Reuters) A low profile Muslim separatist group welcomed a Thai military gesture for exploratory talks aimed at ending over two years of bloody violence in southern Thailand, the Nation newspaper said today.

The paper quoted a leader of the outlawed Pattani United iberation Organisation (PULO), previously thought to have disbanded, as saying that almost daily killings in southern Thailand could be stopped through negotiations.

''PULO stands firmly by its principle that the Pattani issue can be solved through negotiations provided there is sincere commitment from the government in handling the problem-solving process,'' said PULO foreign affairs chief Kasturi Mahkota in a statement that the paper believed was sent from Sweden.

Thai army chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin said on Friday, after over 20 explosive devices went off almost simultaneously in banks in southern Yala province, that an army dialogue with leaders of separatist groups might help end bloodshed in three Muslim- dominated provinces near Malaysia.

''Some government units have tried to establish contact with their leaders. Only talks at this level can we restore peace and reconciliation,'' Sonthi told reporters.

The Thai army chief's initiative has not been supported by the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who earlier described Muslim militants in the area as ''bandits''.

More than 1,100 people have been killed in secessionist violence in southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat since January 2004.

PULO was known as one of several small and low-key separatist groups campaigning for autonomy for the region, a sultanate until annexed by overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand a century ago.

The group, active in the 1970s and 1980s, was believed to have disbanded in the 1990s.

Though not claiming direct responsibility for violence in the south, the group re-emerged in 2004 and 2005 through web site postings warning foreigners to stay away from key public places in Bangkok and southern Thailand.

REUTERS AKJ RK1110