OIC Condemns Bombing Incidents In Southern Thailand

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (Bernama) -- The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed concern over the loss of lives due to a series of bombings which recently hit Southern Thailand. The Jeddah-based OIC condemned such terrorist acts and denounced the indiscriminate violence against civilians from any quarter, an OIC spokesman said in a statement Monday. The spokesman noted that on May 1, 2007, the OIC and Thailand had, in a joint press statement, agreed that the climate of violence instigated by attacks on civilians from any quarters would affect the human rights situation and should not be allowed to continue. The joint statement was issued during the visit of OIC secretary-general Professor EkmeleddinIhsanoglu to Thailand. The spokesman reiterated the OIC's readiness to continue to expand cooperation with Thailand, which has an observer status with the organisation, to bring about peace and tranquility in the southern Thai province. He also referred to Thailand's commitment to resolve the unrest by addressing the root causes of the problem and through a comprehensive approach based on reconciliation and accommodation. In a recent incident on March 31, three bombings hit southern Thailand, leaving five people dead, including two Malaysians, and 416 others injured. The Malaysians were killed when a car bomb went off in the basement parking lot of the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Hat Yai that day. -- BERNAMA