TAK BAI, Thailand, Oct 27 (AFP) - Thailand's premier on Wednesday announced an inquiry into the death of 78 Muslim protesters who were rounded up by troops and crammed into trucks, amid international protests and fears of further violence in the tense region.
Rights groups and the United States have demanded a thorough inquiry into the deaths but Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gave few details of how it would be conducted.
Most victims suffocated while several broke their necks when 1,300 people were stuffed into vehicles for at least six hours, after police and troops had used water cannon, gunfire and tear gas to break up a demonstration on Monday.
Thaksin stopped short of an apology after Tuesday blaming fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and drug use among protesters for the high death toll.
"We will set up a committee to investigate why they were crowded into trucks until they couldn't breathe," Thaksin told legislators.
"We feel sorry. We tried to take care of them well. They should not have died. There will be a committee to investigate so that we can draw lessons from this."
Six people were killed Monday during clashes with 1,000 police and troops outside a police station at Tak Bai in southern Narathiwat province, near the border with Malaysia.
The 78 others survived the protest but died in the crush as they were taken in trucks to a military base 120 kilometres (75 miles) away in Pattani province. Their deaths were not announced by officials for nearly a full day.
Detainees were forced to lie face-down at least two deep on the back of an open-top truck, with their hands tied behind their backs and soldiers standing around them.
Thaksin told legislators a public holiday meant there were too few trucks to hold the detainees, who could not breathe or drink water. But he added: "Authorities did everything according to procedure."
Thailand's stock market fell more than three percent Wednesday with dealers blaming fears of retaliatory violence.
Authorities have imposed a curfew in parts of three southern provinces. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, premier of neighbouring mainly Muslim Malaysia, warned Thaksin during a telephone call Wednesday of the danger of further clashes.
"I also expressed my feelings that in the month of Ramadan, incidents of this nature can bring a lot of unhappiness and create anger and animosity among members of the community," Abdullah said.
Hundreds of tearful family members gathered outside the military base where more than 1,200 Muslims are still detained to try to learn the fate of relatives.
"I haven't found my son yet. He is not on the list of the dead. He said he would go out with his friends, but I don't know where he is now," one woman told Thai television.
Another man, who witnessed the break-up of the protest, was trying to find his son. "They were loaded in six trucks, piled on four or five deep. The reason they died was because they were beaten and injured and kept in a crowded area," he told AFP.
The protest was sparked by the arrest of six Muslim men accused of handing guns to rebels in the Muslim-majority south, where an insurgency has raged this year. The latest deaths take the total to at least 414 this year.
Amnesty International said it was part of a "disturbing pattern" of excessive force against Muslims in the south of the mainly Buddhist country.
The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said the high death toll was "most disturbing and utterly inexcusable".
Rights activists have previously accused the authorities of heavy-handed tactics in the south, including the storming of a mosque in April that left 32 people dead. A total of 113 people were killed in that one-day uprising.
A government-appointed inquiry into the Krue Se mosque raid found security forces had used excessive force.
The United States also called for an investigation. State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said the Thai authorities are "responsible for the humane treatment of prisoners".
Iran urged the authorities to prosecute those responsible and called the actions of security forces "inappropriate and unacceptable".
The insurgency in the south has continued sporadically for decades and sparked into life again in January with a raid on an army depot.

10/27/2004 13:38 GMT - AFP