PATTANI, Thailand (AFP) - Muslim separatists are warning of a violent backlash against the brutal quelling of a riot that left 85 protesters dead in the south, as the Thai premier faced mounting questions over the handling of the incident.
Tensions remained high in the Muslim-dominated region, where a separatist insurgency has raged this year and left more than 415 people dead, with violence erupting anew at the Monday protest and its aftermath.
Six protesters were reportedly shot dead at the demonstration outside the Tak Bai police station in southern Narathiwat province, while officials acknowledged that 78 had suffocated or were crushed to death after being arrested and crammed onto military trucks.
The toll rose by one on Wednesday when a protester succumbed to his injuries in hospital, according to General Sirichai Thanyasiri, chairman of the Southern Border Provinces Peace-Building Command.
A longstanding and outlawed separatist group vowed to carry out revenge attacks following the deaths.
"They will pay for what they have done, their cities will burn," said the statement posted on the website of the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO).
"Their blood will pour into land and river," it went on. "Our weapons are fire and oil."
The message followed a threat posted on the same website in April to foreigners not to travel to key Thai tourist destinations following the deaths of 108 militants and five security forces during a one-day uprising against Bangkok's rule.
Separatist-related violence erupted again Wednesday, police said, with the execution-style shooting death of Thai village headman assistant Prasit Sukpaiboon in Narathiwat's Raman district. Three other people in the province were shot and wounded, according to police.
And early on Thursday police defused a bomb set to go off outside a provincial school in Narathiwat, in the same province as the deadly riot.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Wednesday announced he was launching an inquiry into the deaths, which have brought widespread international outrage, particularly in majority Muslim nations including Iran, Pakistan, and Thai neighbour Malaysia.
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 the demonstration.
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.
Rights groups have demanded an independent investigation and autopsies to determine how the protesters died.
The Asian Human Rights Commission said "Thailand must be prepared to admit a role for international bodies in uncovering the truth and finding a way forward," and said in particular United Nations human rights officials should be invited to participate.
Accusations of excessive force used to quell the riot gained pace Thursday in Thai media. A front-page photograph in the Nation newspaper showed a soldier firing low, his expelled shells frozen in mid-air, suggesting a contradiction of Thaksin's assurance that security forces did not fire into the crowd.
Some 1,300 protestors were arrested in Tak Bai. They remain in official custody, mostly at a military base in Pattani province, and apparently have been barred visits by relatives.
Several of the detainees were moved Thursday to military bases in other southern provinces to alleviate crowding at the Pattani base, military officials said.
10/28/2004 - 05:10 GMT - AFP