Thai government pledges peace within a year in restive south

Thailand's military government vowed yesterday to bring peace to the Muslim-dominated south within a year, despite stalled peace talks aimed at ending an insurgency that has cost thousands of lives in the past decade.

Sporadic violence has killed more than 5,700 people in Thailand's Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia, where resistance to Buddhist rule has existed for decades and resurfaced violently in January 2004.

In the latest violence last Friday, one woman was killed and at least two injured in separate bomb attacks launched by suspected militants at three restaurants in Pattani province, police said.

"We are doing all that we can. We will try to bring peace within a year," Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said.

He blamed the attacks on insurgents retaliating for recent arrests by the authorities.

"The attacks happened because we managed to catch many people, including leaders, of groups involved in instigating acts of violence," Prawit said.