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
Indonesia has collected DNA samples from relatives of major terrorism suspects, police officials said March 26 at the opening of a new DNA laboratory developed jointly with the Australian Federal Police. Indonesian national police chief General Sutanto told reporters that… Read moreIndonesia: DNA surveillance of “terrorists”
Indonesian police shot dead a suspected Islamist militant believed to be linked to Abu Dujana, the purported current leader of the Jemaah Islamiah network, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people. One militant was also… Read morePolice kill jihadist in Indonesia
Suspected Islamist separatists shot and killed three Buddhist women involved with a project for victims of Thailand’s insurgency March 19. The victims were headed to work at a farm project funded by Thailand’s Queen Sirikit in the Nong Chik district… Read moreBuddhist women killed in new Thailand attack
More than 500 Muslim villagers gathered at southern Thailand’s Sabaiyoi town March 18 to demand justice after a midnight attack on an Islamic school left two young students dead and eight wounded. Students were asleep at the boarding school when… Read moreThailand: who is behind school-house attack?
From AP, March 16: NORTHAMPTON – Maha Ghosananda, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated monk who rebuilt Buddhism in Cambodia after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, has died. Ghosananda, who lived in Leverett and Providence, R.I., was believed to be in… Read moreGhosananda, “Gandhi of Cambodia,” dies in Massachusetts
Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft of the US Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-West claimed evidence that secret laboratories for producing methamphetamine are operating in areas of the Phiilippines where Maoist and Islamic rebels have a strong presence, and that the guerillas are… Read moreNarco-guerillas in the Philippines?
