Minister:Thai government's peace talks with insurgents may not be one-day concluded

BANGKOK, March 28 (TNA) - Thai Defence Minister Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwanatat says that Thursday's peace talks in Malaysia between the Thai government, through the National Security Council (NSC), and representatives of insurgent groups in the Thai far South may not be concluded within one day. Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol told journalists that the Thai negotiation team had not been informed of the insurgents’ proposal, and that the Thai government had no plans to agree on the proposed establishment of a special administrative zone in the Thai deep South. The defence minister said, however, that results of Thursday's talks should, however, be revealed by NSC Secretary-General Lieutenant General Paradorn Pattanatabutr, who heads the Thai negotiation team, later in the day. According to the defence minister, discussions and results of the peace talks between the NSC and the insurgent groups are not to be against the Thai Constitution. The defence minister acknowledged that his earlier talks with security authorities in the Thai deep South, including those of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre or SBPAC, showed that all were against the establishment of the proposed "Pattani State", but wanted peace to be restored in the southernmost Thai region to bring about and to sustain people's normal ways of life. (TNA)