The Thai government said Tuesday it had photographic evidence of Thai Islamic militant training grounds in Malaysia, days after Malaysia's prime minister strongly denied the claims. "Our intelligence reports said they were conducting arms training and there are more than 10 key members in Kelantan state," Deputy Interior Minister Sutham Sangprathum told reporters. "We have several photographs of training areas in Kelantan," he said. "We are ready to hand these photos over to Malaysia if they wish." Sutham said the pictures had been in the hands of Thai security forces for some time but had only recently come to his attention. He did not indicate how many militants, who had allegedly trained in Malaysia, were currently hiding across the border, but said "we want Malaysia to arrest these people and hand them to us".
Kelantan borders southern Thailand, where an Islamic separatist insurgency has killed more than 560 people this year. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Friday that "absolutely one group of them (insurgents) has been trained in Malaysia", particularly in the jungles of Kelantan, but said it was being done without the knowledge or support of the Malaysian government. |