Junta continues peace talks with insurgents in Thai far South

BANGKOK, July 21 (TNA) - The army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will continue peace talks with representatives of insurgents in the violence-plagued Thai far South. NCPO Secretary-General General Udomdet Sitabutr, who is also Thai Deputy Army Chief, told journalists of the junta's policy on Monday afternoon, after chairing a meeting on solutions to the insurgency in the country's southern border region at the Royal Thai Army Headquarters in Bangkok. General Udomdet acknowledged that the National Security Council (NSC) is planning a new round of peace negotiation with representatives of insurgent groups in the Thai deep South, led by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN)insurgency movement, which should produce a good result, but he declined to elaborate on the plan. General Udomdet assessed that after a change of work structures, solutions to the Thai far South should be more effective. According to the NCPO secretary-general, the number of violent incidents in the southernmost Thai region has dropped by 20-30, compared with last year's figures, as all concerned authorities have tried to implement solutions as fast as possible and received good cooperation from local religious leaders and people after they have developed mutual understanding. Regarding fresh bombings at four locations in the Tanyongmas Municipality of Narathiwat Province's Rangae District at around noon on July 20, local police have, meanwhile, found from surveillance camera footage two of seven bombers, but no casualties were reported from Sunday's bombings. (TNA)