Thailand, rebel group agree to seek peace talks

KUALA LUMPUR: Thailand signed its first-ever public agreement with a rebel group in its Muslim-majority south on Thursday, pledging to work toward peace talks aimed at ending a festering insurgency.

The potentially historic pledge was signed in Kuala Lumpur between Thai officials and a representative of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) rebel group hours before a visit to Malaysia by Thai premier Yingluck Shinawatra.

Yingluck was to meet later in the day with her host, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, for annual talks set to include the nine-year insurgency and the possibility of Malaysia hosting future Thai negotiations with the militants.

There has been a recent spike in attacks along Thailand's border with Muslim-majority Malaysia, where the nine-year insurgency has claimed more than 5,500 lives.

However, experts warned against viewing the agreement as a breakthrough, noting the splintered nature of the insurgents, lack of concrete demands, and Thailand's difficulty identifying figures with authority to negotiate.

The "general consensus document to launch a dialogue process for peace" was signed by Lieutenant-General Paradorn Pattanathabutr, secretary general of Thailand's National Security Council, and Hassan Taib of the BRN.

"Thank Allah we will do our best to solve the problem. We will tell our people to work together to solve the problems," Hassan, identified as the "chief of the BRN liaison office in Malaysia," told reporters.

No text of the agreement was handed out and officials otherwise offered little comment.