Dialogue open in Malaysia while blast killed three

THURSDAY, March 28, 2013

Kuala Lumpur - Thailand and a Muslim rebel group started peace negotiations Thursday in Malaysia as a bombing by suspected Islamic militants in a Thai province plagued by the insurgency killed three people.

Five people were injured in the blast in the Chor Ai-rong district of Narathiwat province, 840 kilometres south of Bangkok, one of three southern Thai provinces battling the nearly decade-long Muslim rebellion.

The victims were village militia members patrolling the area, said the 4th Army Region commander, Lieutenant Gen Udomchai Thammasarorat.
Thai National Security Council Secretary General Paradorn Pattannathabutr expressed confidence in Kuala Lumpur that violence perpetrated by suspected members of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional(BRN) would eventually decline amid the peace talks.

"We want to reduce violence in the area," he told reporters before the start of the negotiations. "I see BRN as the largest and most influential group behind the unrest, so after the talks, BRN can spread the word to their fighters, and then we will see a concrete result."
"I am confident that they will communicate our message to their militants, but because BRN is a large organisation, we have to give them some time," Paradorn said.

Ahmad Zamzamin, a former senior aide to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was facilitating the first round of talks in theMalaysian capital between Thai security officials and BRN representatives.

More than 5,300 people have been killed in the conflict in the majority-Muslim provinces in Thailand, which are under emergency law.

Rebels have carried out shootings and bombings against monks, teachers and village officials as symbols of the majority-Buddhist state.