Published: September 10, 2005
Op-Ed Contributor
Crossfire War: SE Asia; Thailand/Malaysia - Accusations Become Specific
By Willard Payne 
Night Watch: BANGKOK - Thailand’s Defense Minister Thammarak Isarangura said today that some of the attacks in the south of the country have been planned on Malaysia’s resort island of Langkawi.
"Leading Thai troublemakers have held several meetings on Langkawi. They have repeatedly entered and left the island legally. Therefore from now on we must keep a close eye on their movement on the island", he was quoted by Reuters.
He was responding to reporters who had asked him to comment on former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad remark that the 131 fleeing Muslims should be given refuge in Malaysia. Thammarak was angered by the statement and said, "He (Mahathir) owns the island".
Langkawi is located just off the coast of Malaysia’s nortwest province of Kedah, just off Thailand’s border. Langkawi is an ideal location to plan operations. That was probably the subject of a closed-door meeting in Bangkok when Malaysian Armed Forces chief Anwar Mohamad Nor led a security and military delegation with his Thai counterparts today.
Neither side made any public statement after the meeting but according to Malaysia’s news agency, Bernama, they did mention the flight of Thai Muslims to Malaysia’s northern Kelantan province. Bangkok has accused the militants of spreading rumors that Muslims should flee southern Thailand because violence will seriously increase in the region soon.
The militants may be members of the PULO (Pattani United Liberation Organization). When the attacks increase Langkawi will probably be attacked by Thailand, setting off full scale war between both countries.
Two years ago an Islamic terroism expert mentioned that terrorist groups have islands in the Philippines and Indonesia, which no one can get to, where they have stored a lot of diamonds. He didn’t mention any but I knew of Sebatik, just off northeastern Borneo. A small island under Indonesia’s jurisdiction but right near the border of Malaysia’s Sabah province. One of the wire services, possibly Reuters, reported that the island was used by an Islamic leader to plan attacks in Southeast Asia. Langkawi is obviously another one.
Night Watch Information Service
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