Militant attack kills 1, wounds 4 in Thai south

YALA, Thailand, May 22 (Reuters) Suspected Muslim militants shot dead a Buddhist man, set his body ablaze and left a booby trap which wounded three people including a British photographer today, a Reuters witness said.

The bomb was hidden under a pile of dirt near the charred body of the unidentified man in his 30s and his burnt motorcycle and also wounded a bomb squad officer and a policeman, he said.

''The Western photojournalist had his face covered in blood and has been sent to hospital, but he is still conscious,'' said a Reuters journalist in Yala province, one of three Muslim-majority provinces in the far south.

He identified the photographer as Bangkok-based Philip Blenkinsop, a Briton on assignment for Time magazine.

Militants fighting a separatist war against largely Buddhist Thailand often leave booby traps at the sites of their almost daily attacks in three years of violence in which more than 2,100 people have been killed.

On Sunday, they wounded seven policemen and defence volunteers and four civilians, both Muslims and Buddhists, near a market in nearby Narathiwat province, police said.

All were wounded by booby trap bombs following earlier blasts.

Despite the violence and growing calls for more drastic action against the militants, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont insists his government remains committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

REUTERS KK PM8000