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U.S. Expanding Thai Defense Exercises With Eye Toward Al Qaeda
November 22, 2002
Summary
Bangkok and Washington are extending their annual Cobra Gold defense exercises to cover southern Thailand, which is predominately Muslim and has been the scene of bombings, arson and attacks on police stations. U.S. forces may serve a dual purpose in the area -- training Thai soldiers in anti-terrorism operations and monitoring the local situation to seek out possible al Qaeda supporters.
Analysis
In an unusual move, the annual Cobra Gold defense exercises between U.S. and Thai forces will be extended next year to include southern Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported Nov. 20. Defense permanent secretary Gen. Sampan Bunyanant said the May 2003 exercise, which focuses on anti-terrorism and peacekeeping training, will still be primarily conducted in the central and eastern regions, and that the expansion had nothing to do with politics or Washington's hunt for international terrorists.
But the southern Thai provinces make up a pocket of Islam in a predominately Buddhist nation. Nearly 80 percent of the population in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces is Muslim, with close ethnic and historical links to northern Malaysia. The area has seen a rash of small bombings, arsons and attacks on police stations over the past year, and regional intelligence suggests al Qaeda or other Islamist militants from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines may be hiding out there.
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(Story Source)
© 2002 Stratfor, Inc.
Dan
U.S. Expanding Thai Defense Exercises With Eye Toward Al Qaeda . . .