3rd-round peace talks between Thai government, insurgents set on June 13

MALAYSIA, April 30 (TNA) - The third-round peace talks between the Thai government, through the National Security Council (NSC), and representatives of insurgent groups in the Thai far South, led by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), has been set on June 13, 2013, after the end of the over-nine hour-second round Monday night in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital. After Monday's discussion, NSC Secretary-General Lieutenant General Paradorn Pattanatabutr told reporters that the BRN-led insurgent side increased its representatives from six to seven and the new representative led young-generation insurgents, acknowledging that tension emerged in the talks some times and it was relieved with gradual breaks. Lieutenant General Paradorn said the insurgent side admitted that it had issued five demands in a YouTube video clip, claiming that the demands came from locals. According to the Thai NSC chief, Thai authorities rejected the demands and Malaysian authorities insisted on being only the facilitator of the peace talks, not a mediator as earlier agreed, and dismissed a proposed idea on including representatives of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation or OIC and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the peace talks, as it should diminish Malaysia’s roles. The NSC chief revealed that the Thai delegation demanded a concrete reduction in violent attacks in the Thai deep South, especially those against soft targets, but a deadline for the reduced violence was not set. The NSC secretary-general affirmed that the peace process would be proceeded even if violence continued in the southernmost Thai region and the result of Malaysia's new general election in May 2023 should not have any impact on the next round of peace negotiations between the NSC and the insurgent side. (TNA)