Pallop Pinmanee

Controversial Thai general sent back to Muslim south.
By Trirat Puttajanyawong
24 August 2004
Reuters News

BANGKOK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A Thai general moved out of the largely Muslim south after his troops stormed a mosque during a bizarre uprising in April will be sent back to the region, Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said on Tuesday.

General Pallop Pinmanee, accused by government-appointed investigators of using excessive force in an attack in which 32 lightly armed Muslims were killed, would head the southern border province development board, Chavalit said.

Pallop appeared to show no remorse on Tuesday for storming the mosque on a day when more than 100 Muslims were killed in an uprising in the largely Malay-speaking south that no one has explained adequately.

"We can't act like a wimp," said Pallop, who has admitted ignoring Chavalit's orders to end the mosque confrontation peacefully but has faced no disciplinary action apart from being pulled out of the south.

"This is urban guerrilla warfare," Pallop told Reuters. "We have to resort to all means to bring peace to the region quickly. We have to search, destroy and reconstruct the region."

Pallop will be based in Pattani province, home of the historic Krue Se mosque his men stormed.

"Unity among agencies is the most crucial part now, so I've appointed him to help me in my work," said Chavalit, who is responsible for national security.

"The violence is worse than ever" and had reached a "critical" stage, Chavalit said.

BOMBS, GUNS, MOTORCYCLES

Bomb attacks on symbols of the largely Buddhist central government, such as state buildings, and ambushes of security officers have become daily incidents in a region where a low-key separatist insurgency was fought in the 1970s and 1980s.

Gunmen set off the renewed violence on January 4 by raiding an army camp, walking away with nearly 400 M-16 assault rifles and setting fire to dozens of schools.

The government says it cannot pinpoint precisely what sparked the renewed violence, in which more than 322 people have been killed, but says the area, a relatively poor one despite its rich resources of rubber, palm oil and fish, needs a long-term development plan.

Insurgents have ambushed officials, police and soldiers from the pillions of motorcyles and the army said on Tuesday it would search every motorcycle carrying a male passenger in a bid to halt such attacks.

"If honest citizens feel inconvenienced by our searches, please condemn those villains who have wreaked havoc on our people," the army said in a statement.

Pallop's new appointment came on a day the government announced the annual reshuffle of top military officers. Among other changes, army commander Chaisit Shinawatra, a cousin of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, will move to the largely ceremonial post of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Thai newspapers have reported Chaisit was to be "moved upstairs" when the new appointments became effective on October 1 because of conflicts with Defence Minister Chetta Thanajaro on handling the south. Chaisit denied the reports.