Two different reports from yahoo news and The Stars. The reports
caught my following attentions:
1. MAF soldiers in civilian clothings when caught. What were they
doing there?
2. They are experienced soldiers who served in Bosnia conflict
peacekeeping missions and they are based in JB. (My conclusion: MAF
based their best soldiers in the south)
They had been released after both countries' PMs and Defense
Ministers met each other.
Anyone knows what actually happened?
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040411/1/3jesk.html
Sunday April 11, 12:47 PM
Lost Malaysian soldiers detained by Thailand to be released
Five Malaysian soldiers who were detained after crossing the border
into neighbouring Thailand during a joint border patrol are to be
released soon, according to a news report.
The four sergeants and a corporal had strayed some 300 to 500
metres into Thai territory while on a routine mission to pick up
supplies last Thursday and are expected to be released later
Sunday, the New Straits Times said.
"The rest of their platoon were a safe distance behind Malaysia's
border, but the five, despite having maps, a global positioning
system and a compass, probably erred in their navigation due to the
dense jungle terrain," Malaysian army chief General Mohamad Azumi
Mohamed was quoted as saying.
The five, reportedly clad in T-shirts and not wearing their
military identification tags, were then picked up by the Thai
military after local villagers sighted them.
They are being held in the Ingkhayuttaborehan camp of the Fourth
Army Command in Nongchik district, the report said.
Malaysia and Thailand are currently conducting a joint border
patrol following a wave of violence in southern Thailand that has
left some 60 people dead.
The operation, launched last month, will end on Wednesday and Azumi
said both sides would assess the need for future joint
patrols.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is due to hold talks
on the security situation with his Thai counterpart Thaksin
Shinawatra on Monday.
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This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)
URL:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/4/12/nation/7747552&sec=nation
Monday April 12, 2004
Thai army delays soldiers release
BY SYED AZHAR
PATTANI: The five Malaysian soldiers held by the Thai military
after straying into a village in Yala on Thursday will be further
detained at the South Region army camp here.
South Region commander Lt-Gen Pisan Watanatwongkiri said he had no
choice but to continue detaining the soldiers because the
authorities were still in the dark as to why they had strayed into
Thai territory.
We have to detain them longer because they have given five
different accounts of why they entered Thailand.
Owing to the critical situation in this region, we have to hold
them until the Malaysian Army confirms their identities and actual
mission here, he said at the military command centre in Inkayut
Borikhan here yesterday.
On April 8, Thai military personnel arrested the soldiers, who were
from the 10th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment based at Camp
Majidee in Johor Baru after they were found in the Khun Tong
village in Than To district, Yala.
It was reported that the five had encroached some 300m to 500m into
Thai territory while the rest of their platoon members were safely
behind the Malaysian border.
According to reports in Thai newspapers, the soldiers were found
with M203 rifles, a grenade launcher and a map.
Lt-Gen Pisan said preliminary investigations showed the five
soldiers were experienced and had served under the United Nations
banner in Bosnia-Herzegovina but the discrepancy between their
accounts had led to suspicions that their mission in Thailand was
not legitimate.
Because of the unrest here, we cannot take the chance and free
them, he said, adding that he wanted to meet Army field commander
Lt-Jen Datuk Abdul Aziz Zainal to get to the bottom of the matter
before releasing the soldiers.
