Thousands of Thai Muslims gathered in southern province of Pattani on Thursday to protest the US-led war in Iraq, the Thai News Agency reported Friday.
Some 50,000 people from seven southern provinces took to the streets in Pattani, demonstrating their opposition to the Iraq war,
Some people in the protest, organized by 30 Muslim groups in the southern provinces, burned straw effigies of US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in front of the provincial hall.
Muslim leaders from Thailand and Malaysia made speeches at a rally held in a school, expressing their opposition against the war and praying for the world peace.
Only 5 percent of Thailand's population are Muslims, most of whom live in southern part of Thailand bordering Malaysia.
(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2003)
|