Bomb kills one, wounds 23 in Thai Muslim south

YALA, Thailand, June 8 (Reuters) A bomb exploded at a tea shop packed with Buddhist customers in Thailand's Muslim-majority south today, killing one woman and wounding 23, police said.

The remote-controlled 3-kg (6.6 pound) bomb was placed in a public phone booth near the shop popular with security forces and civil servants in the city of Yala, one of the three provinces hit by daily violence, police said.

Leaflets were left at the site saying the ''Independent Warriors for Patani Darusalam'' were responsible for the blast, and that it was meant to retaliate for attacks by security forces on innocent Muslims.

''As long as security troops hurt our innocent people, we will do the same to yours,'' said the leaflet seen by Reuters.

Muslim militants, who have conducted a separatist insurgency in which more than 2,300 people were killed in the past 41 months, have rarely claimed responsibiity in their attacks.

Since taking office in October, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has fought off pressure from the Buddhist majority to take stronger action against the insurgents, saying he remains committed to a peaceful resolution.

He has apologised for the harsh policies of his predecessor, Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a coup last September, and promised restraint in dealing with the violence.

But he has had no more success than Thaksin in dampening the insurgency in a region where most people speak a Malay dialect.

The daily killings and bombings by secretive militants have increased steadily despite the presence of 30,000 troops and police.

Reuters SBC DB2342