Muslim Rebel Leader Welcomes Thai Coup

Thai soldiers man a checkpoint in front of a tank on the road leading to government house after the military coup Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 in Bangkok, Thailand. The army commander who seized Thailand's government Wednesday in a quick, bloodless coup pledged to hold elections by October 2007, and hinted that ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra may face prosecution. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong) (Apichart Weerawong - AP)

BANGKOK, Thailand -- An exiled Muslim rebel leader on Thursday welcomed Thailand's military overthrow of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, saying the coup could help resolve a bloody Islamic insurgency in the country's south.

The takeover Tuesday by army commander Gen. Son Boonyaratkalin, a Muslim in a predominantly Buddhist country who accused Thaksin's government of corruption, has been endorsed by Thailand's revered king and many Thais eager for an end to political turmoil.

But Western governments expressed dismay over the coup, launched while the popularly elected Thaksin was abroad, and urged a speedy return to democracy.

Thaksin, who used an iron-fisted policy in trying to suppress the insurgency, was widely detested in southern Thailand and many moderate Muslims said that the bloody conflict could never be solved as long as he remained in power.

"It is the right thing that the military has taken power to replace the Thaksin Shinawatra government," said Lukman B. Lima, an exiled leader in one of several groups fighting the central government for a separate Muslim state.

"We hope that the political (situation) can be resolved under Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin as the new leader," Lukman said.

In an e-mailed response to questions from The Associated Press, Lukman said that Sondhi was the "only one who knows the real problems" of the Muslim-dominated provinces of southern Thailand.

Lukman, exiled in Sweden, is vice president of the Pattani United Liberation Organization, or PULO.

"We will continue to fight until full independence (is attained) in Pattani," he said, referring to the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

Sondhi, 59, had proposed several weeks ago opening talks with the separatists, but Thaksin's government vehemently opposed such a move.

"Thaksin's government has totally failed to quell the violence, so we are pinning our hope on the Council of Administrative Reform," said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a political scientist from Prince of Songkhla University in the southern province of Pattani.

Thaksin arrived Wednesday in London from New York where he had been attending the U.N. General Assembly. It was not known whether he would seek to stay in London, where he has a residence, or return to Thailand, where he could face prosecution for corruption.