Briefly: Bombing targets monks in southern province
International Herald Tribune
OCTOBER 22, 2006
Reuters

BANGKOK

Bombing targets monks in southern province

A bomb in Muslim-dominated southern Thailand ripped into a column of Buddhist monks as they went on their daily alms-receiving walk Sunday, killing a marine guard and wounding a dozen other people, the police said.

The attack, in Narathiwat Province, came a day after Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said he would use Indonesia's peace process with rebels in Aceh Province as an example in trying to solve the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand. More than 1,700 people have died in the south since early 2004.

Three civilians standing nearby were also wounded. Buddhist monks are among targets of the insurgents, who are seeking to carve out a separate homeland in three Thai provinces bordering Malaysia. (AP)

KUALA LUMPUR

Mahathir vows to press criticism of successor

The former Malaysian leader Mahathir bin Mohamad said Sunday that he would not stop attacking the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, dashing hopes for an end to their dispute after talks between the two politicians.

"I will continue to criticize if I find that something is done that does not benefit the country," Mahathir said after his unprecedented closed- door meeting with Abdullah.

It was the first face-to-face, closed-door encounter between the two men since Mahathir began strongly criticizing Abdullah about a year ago in an apparent attempt to unseat him. Mahathir, 82, accuses Abdullah of corruption, favoritism, mismanagement and shaming the country. But critics say Mahathir is upset because Abdullah has reversed many of his policies. (AP)

BEIJING: The Chinese police arrested two men in connection with a bomb attack last week that killed 2 people and wounded 17 in a village in the southwestern province of Yunnan, the Xinhua press agency said. A father and son were suspected of throwing four homemade bombs into a crowd Wednesday in an apparent feud, Xinhua said. (Reuters)

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