2007年VOA标准英语-Thailand Seeks Closer Ties with Muslim Nations

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
03 August 2007

The Thai Government is seeking closer links with Muslim countries, part of a two-pronged strategy to end separatist violence in three of its southern provinces. Even as the government was announcing the plan, at least 13 more people died in the area this week in bombing and shooting attacks. Ron Corben reports from Bangkok.

A security report released by the Thai Cabinet this week says the government will pursue closer ties with Muslim countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia.

The statement, part of a draft foreign policy paper on security, said closer contacts would also be developed with international Muslim organizations and foundations.

militants1 during a funeral ceremony at the airport in Narathiwat province, 03 Aug 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070810/0902050.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Thai soldiers and police officers stand as pay their respects to a colleague who was shot dead by militants during a funeral ceremony at the airport in Narathiwat province, 03 Aug 2007

Also this week, the Thai military reported it had rounded up more than 1,900 suspected militants during recent sweeps across the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani. The military calls 300 of those in custody² "leading insurgents³," who supervised and staged attacks.

Analysts⁴ are viewing these moves as a two-pronged strategy by the government to end the three-year-old Muslim insurgency⁵ in the three provinces, which sit on Thailand's southern border with predominately-Muslim Malaysia. The violence has claimed almost 2,500 lives since 2004.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, says the strategy aims to give the government a better picture of how and where the separatists are receiving their support.

"The network in the South has been known to be connected to overseas foundations," he said. "Another strategy is to engage those countries - those foundations and those individuals - to understand what's going on and to get some cooperation and assistance as to how to contain or disconnect some of these linkages⁶."

Nitti Hassan, president of the Council of Muslim Organizations of Thailand, says the government is casting a wide net in hopes of attracting Muslim help.

"The government expects that the Muslim country or the Muslim leader will help to solve the problem from the deep South. They think the insurgents may receive the influence from the Muslim country," said Hassan. "So the government has invited the [religious] leader from Egypt, from Saudi Arabia, also Indonesia, and from Malaysia also."

Thailand has already sought help from Malaysia in opening a dialogue with separatist leaders. Thai intelligence sources say further such efforts are expected this month.

For now, knowledge of the militants is limited. One organization, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, is linked with the RKK Commando Force. The two are seeking a separate Muslim entity⁷ in the region, which was an autonomous⁸ Malayan sultanate until annexed⁹ by Thailand 100 years ago. Intelligence sources say the RKK has fewer than two thousand militants, with ties to private Islamic schools.

No separatist group has issued a manifesto¹⁰, however, and for the most part, the violence has consisted of random¹¹ shootings and bombings. Both Muslims and Buddhists¹² have been targeted.

While the government seeks answers, the violence continues. At least 13 people have been killed in the region this week and another 30 wounded. In one incident, two Muslim villagers, a 61-year-old man and his 26-year-old son, were gunned down near their home in Narathiwat.

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

6 linkages   

n.连接( linkage的名词复数 )；结合；联系；联动装置

参考例句：

• Only the thermosetting resins provide a strong cohesive forces; this is due to molecular cross linkages. 只有热固性树脂具有巨大的凝聚力，这是由于分子交错链所造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The linkages between the stable units must be as near as possible of equal stability. 稳定链节之间的键必须有尽可能接近的稳定性。 来自辞典例句

7 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

8 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

9 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

10 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。

11 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

12 Buddhists   

n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Jesuits in a phase of ascendancy, persecuted and insulted the Buddhists with great acrimony. 处于地位上升阶段的耶稣会修士迫害佛教徒，用尖刻的语言辱骂他们。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The return of Saivite rule to central Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus. 湿婆教在中爪哇恢复统治后，并没有导致佛教徒与印度教徒之间的对立。 来自辞典例句