Third-round NSC-insurgents peace talks kicks off in KL

MALAYSIA, June 13 (TNA) - The 3rd round of peace negotiations between the Thai government, through the National Security Council (NSC), and representatives of insurgents in the Thai far South, led by the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) insurgency movement, kicked off in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, on Thursday morning, with an idea of establishing a special administrative zone in the troubled Thai deep South unlikely to be raised for discussions. Prior to the third-round talks, NSC Secretary-General Lieutenant General Paradorn Pattanatabutr discussed topics with his negotiation team, including Police Colonel Thawee Sodsong, Secretary-General of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC), Lieutenant General Niphat Thonglek, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Defence, and Pramook Lamoon, Governor of Pattani Province. After the one-hour discussion, Lieutenant General Paradorn told journalists that the Thai team would raise demands from locals in the Thai far South during Thursday's talks, including the reduction of violent incidents in the southernmost Thai region, especially in the forthcoming Muslims' Ramadan month of fasting, from July 7-August 7, justice for local villagers and a decrease in areas under the Thai government's executive decree on public administration in emergency situations. The NSC said he expected that the third-round peace negotiations would also discuss five demands of the BRN and might discuss the formation of a joint Thai-BRN committee to consider violent incidents in the Thai far South, but an idea of establishing a special administrative zone in the southern border Thai region would unlikely to be raised for discussions. Malaysia's special branch police brought the Thai team to an undisclosed and heavily-guarded venue of the peace talks in the Malaysian capital at around 10.30am (local time). (TNA)