Thaksin off to meet BRN's Hassan today

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will Saturday meet Hassan Taib, liaison office chief of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), in Malaysia, a military source said.

The source said he received information from BRN members that Thaksin will fly today from Hong Kong to Malaysia to meet Mr Hassan in Terengganu. The exact time and place of the meeting have yet to be finalised.

Thaksin plans to ask Mr Hassan to be more flexible over the BRN's five demands issued on YouTube on April 28 so that the peace talks between the National Security Council (NSC) and the BRN could make progress, the source said.

The source said Thaksin and Mr Hassan had met previously in Dubai early this year and the peace process that started in February might have resulted from the Dubai meeting.

Thaksin this week posted on his Facebook page that he had travelled to Malaysia where he met ex-Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad and current Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak on April 28 - the day before the NSC and the BRN held a second round of peace talks in Kuala Lumpur.

The government is under pressure from the opposition and critics to call off the peace talks as they believe they have intensified the far South violence.

The latest major attack was Wednesday's shooting at a grocery shop in Pattani's Muang district, which left six people dead, including a toddler.

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said the government may need to consider postponing the third round of talks, scheduled for June 13, if the violence does not abate.

Mr Abhisit also called on the government to be more wary of the objectives of the peace talks as the insurgents' representatives may use the talks as a way to add to their demands.

In response to Mr Abhisit's concerns, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said yesterday the government is also aware that insurgents may increase the level of their demands.

"Thank you for the comment," he said. "We're also thinking about this issue."

ACM Sukumpol was speaking before taking a trip to the deep South for talks with officers at the operational level.

The Pattani Buddhists Network yesterday released a statement condemning Wednesday's deadly shooting.

The network said Buddhists and Muslims in the far South shared a wish to live in harmony and peace.

"We condemn any act aimed at creating rifts between the people [of the two religions]," they said, adding the authorities must speed their investigation to bring the attackers to justice.

The network also supports the NSC-BRN peace talks, saying they would like them to continue.

"We understand the peace process takes time and requires a lot of patience, so we support the NSC and BRN in pursuing the talks," they added.