SUBANG, Malaysia, 26 May 2004 — Thailand’s Muslim separatist umbrella group will not be accorded observer status in the world’s biggest grouping of Muslim states, Malaysia’s deputy prime minister said yesterday.

“No, it cannot be considered at the moment,” Najib Razak told reporters when asked if the group, Bersatu, would be allowed to sit at the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), currently chaired by Malaysia.

Najib, who is also defense minister, did not elaborate.

He was responding to remarks by Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who is in charge of security affairs, that Bersatu was trying to gain observer status at the OIC.

Muslim separatists have been blamed for an escalation of violence in Thailand’s south this year, culminating on April 28 when 108 Muslim rebels died during disastrous coordinated assaults on police stations and checkpoints.

Thai media reported that the commander of the Fourth Army which patrols the south, Lt. Gen. Pisarn Wattanawongkiri, left yesterday for talks with Malaysia-based Bersatu leader Wan Abdul Kadir.

Asked to confirm if Pisarn was in Malaysia for talks with the separatist chief, Najib said: “We cannot confirm or deny it.”

But Najib, who is to lead a 26-member delegation to Bangkok Friday for the annual border committee meeting with his Thai defense counterpart, said that Kuala Lumpur welcomed dialogue as a means to resolving the violence.

“Any kind of dialogue is positive. We view it as a positive development,” he said.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has agreed to hold talks with the Bersatu leader in a bid to end the violence.

Najib said high on the agenda in the annual talks would be on how to ensure security and stability in southern Thailand, which shares a common border with Malaysia.

But Thaksin said the separatists must drop their claim for autonomy before entering talks with the government.

“Don’t ever raise the autonomy issue. Thailand is an inseparable country...,” he told reporters, adding that this would be a precondition for the dialogue.

Amid warnings that the planned contacts with the militant umbrella group Bersatu could elevate the status of the outlawed insurgent movement, Thaksin said he had instructed his ministers not to describe them as “negotiations”.

“We welcome everyone who wants to share ideas and brainstorm to promote peace in the south. But we should use the term ‘discussion’, not ‘negotiation’,” he said.