The Philippine government and the country’s largest Islamic rebel group are moving closer to a deal on defining Muslim ancestral, leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have announced. “It’s almost in the bag,” said Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesman…. Read morePhilippines: peace deal with Moro rebels?
Renewed violence in Dili left one dead as Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta was sworn in May 20 as East Timor’s president. UN police to fire teargas and warning shots, and arrested 42. Following the first election since independence… Read moreEast Timor: violence at presidential transition
A home-made bomb ripped through a bus terminal in Mindanao’s Cotabato City May 18, killing three and injuring 15 others. About half of the casualties were children. Authorities said the motive was probably extortion, as the bus company had been… Read moreMore terror in Mindanao
A roadside bomb has killed seven Special Forces soldiers in an ambush in Narathiwat’s Rangae district, in southern Thailand [May 10]. [The Nation, Thailand, May 10] Two policemen have also been killed in a raid on a security checkpoint in… Read moreThailand: Muslim separatists attack security forces
Twenty people have been injured after a bomb exploded in a busy night market in the southern Thai province of Pattani on [May 1]. Officials believe that Muslim fighters carried out the attack as a means of stirring up communal… Read moreBomb hits Thai night market
The following account makes it sound like the the litigants were whining and frivolous, just looking for a cynical buck. But a photo caption accompanying the story in the Denver Post read: “Protesters display a photo of a sick child… Read moreIndonesia: Newmont Mining cleared in pollution trial
Hundreds of Buddhist monks rallied outside the parliament building in Bangkok April 17 calling for Buddhism to be enshrined in the constitution as Thailand’s national religion. The country’s military-appointed government plans to unveil a new national constitution this month. In… Read moreThailand: Buddhist monks rally for state religion
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), called on the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Manila to abide by a 1996 agreement that was meant to end conflict in the southern Philippines. An ongoing… Read moreMuslim nations call for halt in Philippine fighting
A bomb blast tore through a busy market in the town of Yala in southern Thailand April 12, injuring 11 people. The attack happened amid a protest held by mourners after the funeral of Buddhist woman, Patcharapom Busamad, who was… Read moreThailand: bomb blast in Yala market
A proposal to make Buddhism the national religion of Thailand in the country’s new constitution has sparked huge debate. Though overwhelmingly Buddhist (95% of the country), Thailand is in the grips of escalating strife in the southern, predominantly Muslim parts… Read moreThailand debates religion —as terror escalates
Leaders of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations, meeting in New Delhi, pledged to make “tangible progress” in the next six months on issues of water, energy, food and environment. Two agreements were signed — on setting… Read moreEnvironment, free trade, terror top South Asia summit agenda
Thailand’s daily The Nation reports that “suspected militants” fired grenades into two mosques in Yala’s Yaha district April 4, wounding 15 Muslim worshippers. In the first attack, assailants fired M-79 grenades into the Hassaladawa Yaha mosque during morning prayers. The… Read moreThailand: more mosques attacked
