Defector confirmed Hassan Taib is a real separatist leader

Immediately after the signing of the peace dialogue agreement in Kuala Lumpur on February 28 between the Thai government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasionale (BRN) separatist group, many critics have questioned the credibility of Mr Hassan Taib, the man representing the BRN.

          Is he a real separatist leader or just an imposter?  This was the commonly asked question.

          To shed some light into this issue, the Isra news team interviewed Mr Hope (a pseudonym), a former core member of the BRN, who claimed to be familiar with Hassan Taib and used to work with the latter in the separatist movement.  The interview took place at a location in the deep South.  It was conducted in Malayu language and translated into Thai by the news team.

          The followings are extracts from the interview.

          Mr Hassan Taib or Mr Arsae Toyib used to be the commander of the BRN and there should not be any doubt about his credential.  He is the second man after Mr Sapa-ing Basor, former headmaster of Thammawithaya Foundation School in Yala and leader of the BRN Coordinate.

          Mr Hope said he knew Taib more than three decades ago when he first joined the separatist group.  Taib joined BRN at the age of about 18 after which he was sent to Indonesia to study and was then groomed to be the BRN military wing’s commander.  After the graduation, he returned to Thailand.

          While in Thailand, Taib travelled extensively within the deep South and taught in every Pondok (pornoh) school in the region.  He was instrumental in the setting up of Tadika schools in the three southernmost provinces.

          Hope said that he had not seen Taib for many years and thought that the latter was working as an employee extracting coconut milk.  Hope himself defected to the government some years ago after his wife told him to come home from Malaysia because his wife had to take care of her disabled sibling.

          Hope admitted that he didn’t know how the peace dialogue started but said that members of the separatist movement appreciated former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for his initiative to start peace talk with the BRN group.

          He said that the talk started more than two years ago and most of them took place in third countries, including United Arab Emirates where BRN representatives met with Thaksin in Dubai.

          Hope explained that BRN preferred to talk with Thaksin because the latter was more flexible whereas the Democrats were too rigid.

          He said that the ultimate aim of the BRN is a separate homeland of Pattani.  However, this can be changed if the government can restore justice for the local people and work for the benefit for the people in the region.

          Regarding Article 21 of the Internal Security Act which opens the door for the separatists to turn themselves in to undergo re-education for up to six months in exchange for exemption from prosecution, Hope warned that  the law must be applied in a just and fair manner.

          He disclosed that in the past the defectors were demanded bribes if they wanted to enter the re-educational programme.  Hence, the programme failed to attract defectors, he added.

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Captions :

1 (The second from the right) Mr. Hassan Taib

2 Mr. Hope