Bangkok - Thailand's long-simmering southern separatist movement that has claimed more than 2,700 lives in the past four years is over, a self-proclaimed spokesman for the movement announced Thursday in a dubious Thai army-controlled TV broadcast.

"We want to see peace and stability in the region," said an alleged spokesman claiming to speak for 11 underground southern separatist groups in a broadcast aired mid-day Thursday on the army-run TV5.

"All forms of attacks have come to an end," said the unidentified spokesman for rebel groups in the deep-South, comprising Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces.

Speaking in Yawi, the language of the deep South, through a Thai translator, the spokesman said a ceasefire had gone into effect on July 14, 2008.

Observers immediately questioned the credibility of the army broadcast, which was stage managed by former army commander-in-chief General Chetta Thanajaro.

It was unclear why the taped broadcast was only released Thursday, if the ceasefire started Monday, and why attacks continued in the region in recent days including two bomb explosions in Yala Wednesday.

"There has been nothing to suggest that the militants on the ground would let up with their activities," Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch told The Nation online news service.

Chetta claimed credit for the so-called breakthrough, saying he has been carrying out secret negotiation with members of the 11 so-called "underground" groups operating in southern Thailand and abroad.

"Everything is not 100 per cent certain," Chetta admitted on the broadcast.
An estimated 2,700 people have died in clashes and revenge killings in the deep South since January, 2004, when Muslim militants raided an army arms depot and stole more than 300 war weapons, prompting a government crackdown on the long-simmering separatist struggle.

The three provinces bordering Malaysia comprised the independent Islamic sultanate of Pattani more than 200 years ago before it fell under Bangkok's rule. More than 80 per cent of the three provinces' 2 million people are Muslims, making the region an anomaly in predominantly Buddhist Thailand. (dpa)