13.06.09 Deputy PM visits mosque victims in troubled deep South
Source: TNA
BANGKOK, June 13 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban flew
to the troubled southern Thai province of Narathiwat on Saturday to
boost morale of the people as well as visiting victims of a massacre at
Al-Furqan mosque in Ai Payae village of Narathiwat’s Cho-airong
district earlier this week.
six masked gunmen dressed in black
opened fire with M-16 assault rifles and shotguns on a crowd of
worshipers as they were performing the evening prayer at a mosque in Ai
Payae village of Narathiwat province's Joh Ai Rong district
Accompanied
by several senior officials including Defence Minister Gen. Prawit
Wongsuwan and Army chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda, Mr. Suthep will first
visit Al-Furquan mosque which was attacked on Monday night by six
unidentified men in black who left 10 innocent men dead and 12 wounded.
He will later visit a hospital where he will meet the wounded
from the attack, attend a briefing on the ongoing violence in the
region and meet with officials of the southern-based Internal Security
Operations Command (ISOC) before returning to Bangkok at 3.30 pm.
Mr.
Suthep told journalists prior to his departure that the government is
trying to apprehend the mosque attackers so that legal action can be
taken against them.
He reasserted that state officials were not
behind the attack as some critics have claimed, and said that that the
government will use peaceful means along with development programmes to
resolve the violence in the South and raise the standard of living of
people there.
The number security personnel tasked with
patrolling areas in the southernmost provinces could be increased in
future, he added. (TNA)
