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Saturday, April 22, 2006
A Report like this one from Bangkok; shows how Politics often affects the War on Terror. It also showa how labels put on people are often are meaningless when Political perception conflicts with Political oppression. -MIke
Both photo and content from - Asianews.it
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=5970 - Full story
" Barely a year ago, Waemahadee Waeda-oh, was on trial, charged with being a member of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a Islamic terrorist network linked to al Qaeda. A few days ago, he was elected senator in Thailand with an overwhelming majority.
On 16 May 2003, Waemahadee and three other Thai Muslims were identified by police as being members of the group of Arifin bin Ali of Singapore, believed to be a JI member. At the time, he was detained in Bangkok and later repatriated.
They were charged with involvement in terrorist attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombs. In June 2005, the court in Bangkok absolved them citing "lack of evidence".
"I used to live in fear and suspicion," Waemahadee, 43, said. "People here are in a similar situation, so they looked for a person who could reflect their frustration."
In one of three Muslim southern provinces " within a Buddhist majority country " Waemahadee won 100,000 votes, three times more than any other candidate in his area. Clashes between Muslim rebels fighting for independence and government troops have plagued the south of the country since 2004. ....
"Apparently the government is trying to win people's hearts and minds now, but villagers, whose relatives have been threatened or taken away by officials in the past, are still skeptical, continued the new senator. "My victory shows people wanted a change of policy." - it's a good read look it up on the web in full
