| Lukman B. Lima | Lukman B. Lima | Pattani United Liberation Organization | Southeast Asia | 20040506 | Link |
| Southeast Asia |
| Blast wounds seven as terrorists condemn Thai 'cease-fire' |
| 2008-07-21 |
| The leader of a Muslim Shortly before Monday's violence, the deputy president of the Pattani United Liberation Organization, or PULO, denounced an alleged cease-fire agreement between the Thai government and a group called the United Southern Underground, and said the "struggle for independence" would continue. The previously unknown group, claiming to represent others involved in the insurgency, announced last Thursday that it had ended all violence in the region. The announcement was greeted with widespread doubt. "It is an opportunist group which was created and orchestrated by an individual to confuse and divide the liberation movement," the PULO's Lukman B. Lima said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He said the announcement was a political gimmick by a former military commander. Former army commander and Defense Minister Chetta Thanajaro, who now heads a small political party, has said the agreement was the result of informal talks he held with leaders of the insurgency. He said the organization that made the announcement represented 11 different underground groups operating in southern Thailand, but did not identify them or their leaders. Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej earlier said his government was not holding talks with any separatists, but that at least two insurgent groups were in discussions with mediators in Geneva. |
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| Southeast Asia |
| Exiled terror leader rules out talks with Thai government |
| 2008-03-24 |
| An exiled Muslim rebel leader ruled out peace talks with Thailand's new government, saying Monday that authorities have cultivated "conditions of war" that were not conducive to ending bloodshed in the restive south. Lukman B. Lima, who heads the Pattani United Liberation Organization from exile in Sweden, said such talks should be held in the presence of an international mediator. "We want to resolve the conflict through peaceful means, through civilized methods, without recourse to bloodbath and destruction of life," Lukman said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. But "peace talks cannot be held under the conditions of war, military aggression and occupation." Lukman called on Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government, which took office last month, to withdraw troops and grant sovereignty to the south, reiterating long-standing demands. A government spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment, but Samak said last month it would be dangerous to do so. It was not clear to what extent Lukman's comments reflected the views of the other shadowy groups involved in the insurgency. PULO is the only rebel organization to comment on the fighting, and its leaders have been in self-imposed exile in Sweden for several years. Plus: Thailand's police have arrested a man suspected of involvement in the bomb attack at the CS Pattani hotel. A combined police and military force arrested Muden Sameng at a house in Pattani's Panare district after an investigation found he was a member of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) insurgent group and linked him to a bomb incident at the CS Pattani hotel on March 15. Mr. Muden was also suspected of involvement in a bombing which killed three officials in Panare district. He denied any involvement in bombings. |
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| Southeast Asia |
| Terror leader demands referendum on autonomy for southern Thailand |
| 2008-02-22 |
| An exiled Muslim "The worst-case scenario can still be avoided, but only if Mr. Samak and the military forces allow the people of Pattani to determine their own future," Lukman said in an e-mailed statement received by The Associated Press on Friday. "If, in a referendum sanctioned by Bangkok, Pattani chooses independence, there will be one less border in the world marked by endemic conflict," he said. Four small bombs exploded in the region Friday. Authorities blamed Muslim It was not clear to what extent Lukman's comments reflected the views of the other shadowy groups involved in the Nimukta Waba, a Muslim lawmaker from Pattani province, said Friday he did not believe Lukman knew what people in the region wanted. "The local people are only demanding justice, fair treatment and equal rights," said Nimukta, a member of the Puea Pandin Party a member of the government's ruling coalition. "I think at least 90 percent of people here do not want autonomy. It would be useless to hold a referendum." |
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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesian jihadis heading into South Thailand |
| 2005-09-30 |
| A security adviser to the prime minister said Thursday that Indonesian fighters are involved in Thailand's Muslim insurgency, contradicting government insistence the bloody separatist movement is a homegrown affair unconnected to Southeast Asia's al-Qaida-linked terror network. "I have warned the authorities concerned several times about Indonesian fighters sneaking into the region but they have ignored it," Gen. Kitti Rattanachaya told The Associated Press, saying the militants infiltrated from the Indonesian province of Aceh. His assertion comes amid rumors of Indonesian Muslims joining the fight in Thailand's southernmost provinces. No substantial evidence has emerged to back the claim, and Rattanachaya gave few details of the infiltration. Most analysts regard the insurgency as domestic but with a strong potential to attract foreign Muslim militants - including members of the Jemaah Islamiyah network, blamed for deadly attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings and a 2003 blast at Jakarta's J.W. Marriott hotel. In a recent AP interview, a veteran Thai rebel leader warned that militants from Indonesia and Arab nations might join the Thai fight for a separate Muslim homeland if the government continued a crackdown that is provoking a new generation of fighters. Lukman B. Lima said the 21-month-old insurgency is getting moral and financial support from abroad, especially from Islamic sympathizers in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. But he said weapons are being obtained locally and wielded by Thai Muslims. "I assure you that many among the young generation are being trained to use the weapons to defend themselves. We train them in the mountains, jungles and sometimes in villages but only inside Thailand," Lukman said in a Sept. 23 interview. The government repeatedly has denied there are rebel training camps in Thailand. Kitti, a security adviser to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and former army commander in the restive region, said officials "don't accept the truth that we are facing the problem of separatist insurgents supported by fellow Muslims in the region." Also Thursday, Thaksin dismissed local media reports that Washington was concerned about international militants joining with Thai Muslims. The Thai-language daily Matichon said U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce met with the interior minister recently to ask about possible foreign involvement. "Not true. I don't believe the report (of foreign militants) is true because even when I met with President Bush he did not bring this up," Thaksin told reporters when asked about the meeting. Thaksin met Bush in Washington earlier this month. Boyce told AP: "We still view the situation as homegrown." In another interview earlier this week, a Thai Muslim who fought with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan and who has close contacts with the Thai insurgents said he believed fighters from Aceh with superior training have been operating in southern Thailand for some time. Thai insurgents, mostly recruited from religious school and given just rudimentary training, were not good enough to carry out some of the attacks witnessed in the south, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of concerns for his safety. |
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| Leader Warns of Foreign Militants Joining Thailand's Muslim Insurgency | ||||||||
| 2005-09-23 | ||||||||
| JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A veteran leader of Thailand's insurgency has issued a warning: militants from Indonesia and Arab nations might join the fight for a separate homeland if the Thai government continues a crackdown that's provoking a new generation of Muslim fighters. In his first interview with a news organization, Lukman B. Lima told The Associated Press that violence could spread from Thailand's southern provinces to the capital unless the government accepts an offer to negotiate an end to the conflict. Although he suggested peace talks, Lukman lashed out at the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, likening the prime minister to Stalin and Hitler. "If the government opts to kill and kill without reason, perhaps fighters from Indonesia and Arab countries will help us because, according to Islam, real Muslims cannot just stand by when their brother Muslims are being slain," he said. The 21-month-old insurgency - in which more than 1,000 Muslims and Buddhists have been killed - is getting moral and financial support from abroad, especially from Islamic sympathizers in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, according to Lukman.
Lukman is vice president and acting head of the Pattani United Liberation Organization, or PULO, one of several groups involved in the century-old struggle to gain independence for the predominantly Muslim far south of Thailand, a Buddhist country. The PULO works "hand-in-hand" with groups involved in the fighting, Lukman said, with his organization focused on the political arena although it also has fighters on the ground. It's unknown, however, to what extent his comments reflect the views of the shadowy insurgent groups or how much influence he and PULO exert over rebel military operations. Lukman offered negotiations with the Thai government on condition that it removes all the more than 20,000 troops from the south; revokes tough emergency measures aimed at the insurgency - thought to be about 2,000 fighters strong; stops killing innocent people; and frees the PULO's imprisoned president and military chief.
Prime Minister Thaksin recently set up a reconciliation council - comprising military officers, academics, Muslim community leaders, and other concerned parties - to explore peaceful solutions to the conflict. But he's been criticized at home and abroad for trying to resolve the problem with military force. In two separate incidents last year, nearly 200 Muslims died when security forces gunned down militants, protesters and bystanders and put some into army trucks, where they suffocated. Lukman blamed Thaksin for the surge in violence, saying previous governments were more flexible in dealing with Muslim aspirations. A one-time police officer, Thaksin recently replaced martial law in the south with an emergency act which critics describe as a "license to kill" because of the powers and immunity it affords security officials. "The wrongful policy of Prime Minister Thaksin instilled fear and forced people to fight back," Lukman said. Asked why some Muslims were also being targeted by insurgents, he called them government spies and collaborators who had to be eliminated. "I would like to send Thaksin this message: don't touch our pondok (religious schools), don't touch our religious teachers or otherwise the bloody days will continue, and I cannot stop this young generation from turning their aggression against other parts of Thailand, like Bangkok," he said.
"I've never been on the battlefield. Killing people is not my objective. I prefer to fight for my right to return back to my country, which is occupied by Thailand, through the diplomatic way and dialogue," he said, adding that he had been an activist for 34 years.
Lukman said he had approached the Foreign Ministry in Norway to act as a mediator in any peace talks. But Foreign Ministry spokesman Anne Lene Sandsten told the AP, "We are not involved in that." When pressed about whether Norway had even been approached, she refused to comment further, saying, "That is all I have."
In offering peace talks, Lukman said he was speaking on behalf of all the insurgent groups, but this was not possible to confirm. Some analysts speculate that radicals among the separatists have no interest in a dialogue with Bangkok. Thaksin, meantime, has said he would not give up one inch of Thai soil. Lukman estimated negotiations could take five years, saying the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala and parts of Songkhla could become an independent Islamic republic by 2010 - more than a century after Thailand annexed what was once the autonomous sultanate of Pattani.
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| Southeast Asia |
| Islamists warn Thailand visitors |
| 2004-05-30 |
| Muslim militants are warning the "people of the world" not to visit Phuket, a wealthy, tourist playground thus far untouched by the Muslim insurgency of southern Thailand. Phuket island, with floating bars set amid lush resorts with meticulously coifed foliage, rustic wooden bridges, stone paths and palm trees, remains untouched by the militants. But a recent harsh warning by the United Front for the Independence of Pattani, a feared guerrilla group usually referred to as Bersatu, included Phuket. Trying to turn another paradise into an Islamic hell. As they have done with Kashmir. It was posted on the "official Web site" of the Pattani United Liberation Organization (PULO), which forms part of the united front along with the Mujahideen Pattani Movement and two smaller rebel groups. The unusual, one-paragraph "message from Bersatu" said: "Dear people of the world, persons who plan to visit Thailand NOW are warned not to travel to Pattani Raya Region Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Satun, Songkhla and the neighbor provinces [of] Phuket, Pangnga, Krabi, Pattalung. Pattani people are not responsible for anything [that] happens to you after this warning." The only other announcement in English on the Web site was a plea by the group "urging the Thai authorities to investigate at least 60 people [who] disappeared" during security sweeps between Jan. 5 and April 9. That demand was signed by the groupâs deputy president, Lukman B. Lima, who was believed to be in exile in Sweden. In May 2003, Mr. Lima boasted Thai security forces were "falling like leaves" in southern Thailand because Muslims were rising up in "liberation movements" against "colonial" repression practiced by Thailandâs majority Buddhists. |
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| Thailand's Muslim insurgency has 'Wahhabi' ties | ||||
| 2004-05-06 | ||||
| EFL: An insurgency by Islamist separatists in southern Thailand who have links to the Indonesian Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (JI) and Al-Qaeda has opened a new bloody front in Southeast Asia's war on terror, and has the makings of a full-blown uprising. The unprecedented violence, which escalated last week with the gunning down of more than 100 Islamists as they prepared to attack army posts, has become Bangkok's biggest domestic security challenge since the early 1980s, when the government saw off a 15-year, pro-Chinese communist insurgency. Bangkok initially dismissed the raiders as "bandits and criminals," and steadfastly rejected the theory that "international terrorist groups" were behind the violence. However, it had no choice but to later acknowledge and confront head-on the reality of a more complex separatist threat after it found that at least seven of the dead Islamist insurgents last week were not Thai nationals, and one had the letters JI stitched onto his jacket. JI seeks to establish a pan-Southeast Asian Islamic state from southern Thailand, through Malaysia, Singapore, across Indonesia and into the southern Philippines. In addition, regional leaders from JI, Al-Qaeda and the Free Aceh Movement are known to have visited southern Thailand, taking advantage of its lax security and porous borders to recruit volunteers from the disenfranchised local population and to organize arms purchases. JI militants sought by Malaysia and Singapore fled to southern Thailand in 2002, and in June last year Thai police broke up a JI cell and foiled a plot to bomb embassies in Bangkok. Arifin bin Ali, a Singaporean alleged to be a senior member of the terror group, was also arrested in the capital. Al-Qaeda's operational leader in Southeast Asia, Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, was no stranger to southern Thailand before he was arrested in February north of Bangkok. And after the January raid on the army camp, local officials said one of the suspects was believed to be an Indonesian relative of Hambali. According to Eric Teo Chu Cheow of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, JI elements met twice in southern Thailand to plan the Bali bomb blasts, and possibly other bomb attacks in Indonesia. Muslims in southern Thailand could have been discreetly plugged into the JI network, he says, and reportedly have close links to the two Muslim rebel groups in the southern Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the more deadly Abu Sayyaf group. Independent estimates put JI membership in southern Thailand at as high as 10,000, and the military now says that following the recent violence, it is hunting down at least 5,000 armed separatists. In 1998, Bangkok adopted a radical five-year plan for the south, the renewal of which is now stalled in Parliament. This included a partial military withdrawal, a crackdown on notoriously corrupt Thai officials (often dumped in the south as punishment) and the gradual Islamization of the area. The plan was drawn up with the guiding principle that security for Thailand would be achieved only if Thai Muslims themselves felt secure.
----------snip---------- Indeed, violence subsided in the early 1990s in the southern provinces, historically part of the Muslim kingdom of Pattani, which was annexed by Thailand in 1902. Recreating the lost, idealized Muslim homeland of old has remained a key goal of separatist parties. Lukman B. Lima, the deputy president of the banned Pattani United Liberation Organization, has said that Bangkok "illegally incorporated" the south into Thailand 100 years ago, and continues to rule it with "colonial" repression while "committing crimes against humanity."
Buddhist Thai nationalists have fears of their own. In 2002, nationalists played up the "Arab influence" threat following the arrest of some two dozen Middle Eastern suspects for forging travel documents, visas and passports for Al-Qaeda operatives. They were given further ammunition when separatists began targeting government-run secular schools. They are also disturbed that southern Thailand is home to the Yala Islamic College, which is run by a hard-line Wahhabi cleric, Ismail Lutfi. He has an estimated 8,000 followers installed throughout the south in key Islamic posts, and the college, which like most Islamic institutions in southern Thailand is funded by Saudi money, has about 800 students who are reportedly taught hard-core Wahhabi doctrine.
Other Thai Muslims, however, are displeased with these developments. Vairoj Phiphitpakdee, a Muslim member of Parliament for Pattani, has said some Thai Muslims mistakenly believe that Islam is just about adopting Arab customs. "They're taken to the Middle East and they're brainwashed," he said.
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