SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: VISIT TO PROMINENT ISLAMIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 004917 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, S/CT, PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER KPAO TH SUBJECT: SOUTHERN VIOLENCE: VISIT TO PROMINENT ISLAMIC SCHOOLS REF: A. BANGKOK 3242 (IIRO) ¶B. 05 BANGKOK 7918 (YALA ISLAMIC COLLEGE) ¶C. 05 BANGKOK 7573 (BRN-C) Classified By: DCM Alexander A. Arvizu. Reason 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: As part of our public affairs outreach program, Embassy Bangkok officers visited the Attarkiah Islamiah School in Narathiwat and the Thammawittahya School in Yala, two of the largest, and in the case of Thammawittahya, most controversial private Islamic schools in far southern Thailand. Emboffs met with administrators, teachers and students, and presented donated books and English language materials. The visit reinforces our impression that the anger that seems to be driving much of the insurgency is not directed against the U.S. or our interests. End Summary ¶2. (C) On August 2-3 Embassy Bangkok Poloff and PDoff traveled to the far southern provinces of Narathiwat and Yala as part of a PA book donation program to prominent local Islamic schools. Emboffs visited the Attarkiah Islamiah School in Narathiwat and the Thammawittahya Foundation School in Yala. Additional books and English language materials were presented to representative of the Nadhatulsyuban Islamic school, the newly opened Princess of Narathiwat University, and to civic leaders in Yala City (septel). THAMMAWITTAHYA SCHOOL - UNDER A MICROSCOPE -------------- ¶3. (C) Thammawittahya Foundation School in Yala City has been the focus of considerable attention by the Thai government since January 2004. The school's former headmaster, Sapaeng Basoe, is one of the most wanted men in Thailand, with a 250,000 dollar reward for his capture. Sapaeng is believed to be the leader of the political wing of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Coordinate (BRN-C),the leading operational militant group in the South (reftel C). Other Thammawittahya teachers have also been implicated in the violence. In March 2005, four Thammawittahya teachers were arrested and charged for involvement in the insurgency. Their case remains open. In March 2006, 18 Thammawittahya teachers were detained after returning from a suspicious retreat to an isolated island off Satun province. They were released after a month without charges being filed. Since January 2004, two Thammawittahya teachers have been killed by gunmen. ¶4. (C) Thammawittahya School is huge, with almost 5,800 middle and high-school students and 500 teachers. The school was founded in 1891 as a "Pondok" Islamic school located behind a local Mosque. It has grown into a campus of nearly 5 acres. The school's curriculum has moved from exclusive Islamic Studies to include Ministry of Education approved social science courses. Admission is open and tuition is free. The school is funded through domestic and international donations. School administrators pointed out that they used to receive funding from the Asia Foundation in the 1960s, and would like to reestablish that relationship. There are three large dorms to house students from outside Yala. The school boasts that 20 students on average per year are granted scholarships to study abroad. Of the 843 students in the class of 2006, international scholarships included: Malaysia (5),Egypt (2),Indonesia (2),China (1) and Finland (1). ¶5. (C) The school's current headmaster, Razi Bensulong, is soft-spoken and clean-shaven. He and a select group of teachers and students warmly welcomed the first official visit from U.S. Embassy officers. Razi and his English teachers were grateful for the 700 dollars worth of books and instruction material donated by the Embassy. The new books were prominently displayed in the school's small library, which is dominated by religious books in Arabic. The teachers asked for additional books and educational materials in English and welcomed further outreach from the Embassy. After a multimedia presentation on the history of the school, Razi led Emboffs on a tour of the campus. Students, busy participating in the school's "sports day" enthusiastically greeted visiting Emboffs. In an aside, Headmaster Razi said that that his predecessor Sapaeng was a "good man" who had BANGKOK 00004917 002 OF 003 been targeted by Thai authorities for political reasons. ATTARKIAH ISLAMIAH SCHOOL - TRYING TO MAINTAIN BALANCE -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) The Attarkiah Islamiah School in Narathiwat City, with over 4,200 students, is also one of the largest Islamic Schools in southern Thailand. The school was founded in the 1960s by former Narathiwat Senator Dato Omar Toryib after he returned from Cairo where he had studied under an Egyptian government scholarship. Omar proudly pointed out the many new buildings under construction at his large campus. The original school building was paid for by the Saudi government; "King Faisal paid for it himself," claimed Omar. A large new primary school -- paid for by the Kuwaiti government -- is filled to capacity with classes of mixed gender elementary students. Nearby, a brand new dormitory, financed by the Islamic Development Bank, is under construction that will house an additional 200 students from outside of Narathiwat. Omar said that 30 percent of the school's students come from outside the province, and many reside on campus. ¶7. (C) Students at Attarkiah receive instruction in Islam and social sciences in Arabic, Thai, Malay and English. Ninety-five percent of the approximately 500 graduates move on to higher education. Two recent graduates were awarded scholarships to Egypt and another to Kuwait. A small number of foreign teachers work at the school, including an Indonesian science teacher, a British primary school teacher, and a Canadian couple who teach English. Attarkiah administrators said they would welcome other foreign English teachers in the school and asserted they would be safe. In an aside, one of the administrators insinuated that Attarkiah teachers were protected from militant attack because of their association with the school. ¶8. (C) Attarkiah School is partially funded by the government, receiving approximately 250 dollars annually for each primary and middle school student and 500 dollars for each high school student from the Ministry of Education. Omar acknowledged that his school also received significant contributions from "Saudi and Kuwaiti friends." The school is free of charge to all students. Omar said that the school receives many more requests for admissions than it can handle and that students are selected for entry based on a competitive entrance exam. The teachers were deeply appreciative of the book donations from the Embassy and said they would gladly welcome more resources. During the visit and tour of the campus, Emboffs were warmly greeted by large groups of excited students, eager to have their picture taken with the American visitors. ATTARKIAH'S NEIGHBORHOOD -- A GLIMPSE OF THE SOUTH -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) Driving around the surrounding neighborhood with Dato Omar was instructive on the realities of far southern Thailand. Omar pointed to a small Buddhist temple, noting that in the past the relations with the local Buddhist community had been good; however, many Buddhist families had left in recent years. The local public school where many of the Buddhist families sent their children -- located only a few blocks from the Attarkiah School -- was burned to the ground two years ago. We drove by a large statue of a paper crane, recently erected to commemorate Prime Minister Thaksin's December 2004 initiative to drop millions of origami "peace" cranes on the South. Omar said the government put up the statue despite strong local resistance. "We want justice, not paper birds," he grumbled. Driving past a group of soldiers, Omar commented that local anger was increasingly directed towards the Army. "People have always disliked the police and civil servants, but the anger over injustices is now strongest against the Army." (Note: On July 27 Prime Minister Thaksin formally gave Army CINC Sonthi the lead role in implementing RTG southern policy. End Note) OUTREACH AN OPPORTUNITY -------------- ¶10. (C) Comment: Thammawittahya has long been suspected of links to the insurgency; Attarkiah's connection is more BANGKOK 00004917 003 OF 003 opaque. Regardless, both schools -- and their thousands of graduates -- will have a key role in the future of southern Thailand. The openness of the schools to outreach from the Embassy was somewhat surprising and is instructive. It reminded us of similar openness that Embassy officers experienced at Yala Islamic College, another school of concern (reftel A, B),and other Islamic schools in the South. Although suspicion of U.S. "involvement" in the affairs of southern Thailand is commonplace, it has not translated into widespread ill-will against us. The insurgency -- and the anger driving it -- appears to remain directed almost exclusively at the Thai government. We see a window of opportunity to build some good will through increased outreach to southern Thailand, although that will have to be balanced against genuine security concerns, for while much of the localized violence is targeted, some of it is indiscriminate - meaning that innocent people get maimed or killed. End Comment BOYCE