Word: separatists
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...also raise another grim specter: the possibility that the militants might turn their sights on the millions of foreigners who flock to Thailand's beach resorts, dealing a body blow to the country's chief source of foreign currency, its $7 billion-a-year tourism industry. Ominously, one Islamic separatist group that had been quiet for decades, the Pattani United Liberation Organization (P.U.L.O.), published a warning to foreign tourists on its website within 24 hours of the killings. The message, addressed to "Dear People of the World," said: "Persons who plan to visit Thailand NOW are warned not to travel...
...escalation of violence will depend, of course, on the leadership, organizational ability and funding of the handful of small separatist groups in the south. But even the most basic information about these groups?the size of their memberships, how much they cooperate with one another, what links they have to international militant Islamic groups such as al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah (JI)?remains largely a mystery. "Most of the groups have been dormant for years," says a Malaysian intelligence official in Kuala Lumpur, so they have largely fallen off the radar. But, he adds, while relatively few in numbers...
...common criticism of Megawati is that she hasn't done enough to make Indonesia a stable and safe place. Separatist movements still rage, and her administration is brutally suppressing one of them in the western province of Aceh. Her response to the threat of Islamic militancy has been perceived in some quarters as indecisive, even following the deadly Bali bomb blasts and last year's attack at the JW Marriott hotel in downtown Jakarta. She encouraged a competent and thorough investigation of the Bali bombings, which led to the arrests of more than 30 Muslim militants and key players...
...Human Rights The Indonesian military has brutally suppressed separatist rebels in the western province of Aceh since martial law was declared there last year. Widespread human-rights abuses have been reported. Elsewhere in Indonesia, antigovernment protesters have been detained or jailed and press freedom has come under assault
...spent part of his childhood. Local officials advertise the town as the most competitive middle-sized city in the Philippines. But even though carefully qualified, the slogan seems optimistic at best. GenSan is situated on the southern tip of the lawless province of Mindanao, which is wracked by separatist fighting and kidnapping. Many of the residents are poor tuna fishermen, yet growing up, Pacquiao and his family were so impoverished that their neighbors pitied them. "He was a bright boy but didn't finish school because of poverty," says Jognard Verzoza, who went to elementary school with Pacquiao. "You could...