Thai government, BRN insurgent group ink deal on peace talks

KUALA LUMPUR, February 28 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the National Security Council (NSC), and the Barisan Revolusi National (BRN) insurgent group have signed a letter of intent for peace talks, coordinated by Malaysian security authorities. NSC Secretary-General Lieutenant General Paradorn Pattanathabutr inked the letter of intent with Hasan Thoyib, coordinator for foreign affairs of the BRN Coordinate insurgent group in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, on Thursday, during which Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen bin Abdul Wahab, Secretary-General of the Malaysian National Security Council, also signed the letter as a coordinator. The deal paves the way for negotiations between the Thai government and the BRN insurgent group for the restoration of peace in the insurgency-ridden southernmost Thai region. The NSC chief acknowledged that the BRN Coordinate has played important roles in the troubled Thai far South and was the first group expressing interest in negotiations with the Thai government, assessing that other insurgent groups in the Thai deep South should follow suit and the situation in the southern border Thai region should be then improving. According to the NSC chief, there is not any condition for the negotiations with BRN representatives and there should be negotiations between the Thai government and several other insurgent groups in the near future, as the Malaysian government is lending a helping hand for a quick restoration of peace in the Thai far South. The signing ceremony was witnessed by several Thai security authorities, including Deputy Permanent Secretary for Defence General Nipat Thonglek, a representative of the Internal Security Operations Command, Lieutenant General Surawat Bootwong, and Secretary-General of the Southern Border Province Administration Centre (SBPAC) Colonel Tawee Sodsong, as well as Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police's Special Branch Police Police Lieutenant General Saritchai Anekwiang, the governors of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces and high-ranking Malaysian authorities, namely a Malaysian deputy foreign minister, and five key figures of the BRN Coordinate. (TNA)