Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra urged businesses in southern Thailand to keep their stores open on Friday, despite militants' threats to attack shopkeepers who work on the Muslim holy day.

On his second trip to the Muslim-majority region in less than a week, Thaksin walked through open markets where shoppers and vendors swarmed to meet him, as he promised to hunt down those responsible for nearly 20 months of deadly unrest.

"Anyone who has committed any wrongdoing, please come forward and surrender to authorities. Otherwise we will chase you to the ends of the earth," he said.

"I ask all of you to stand strong," he told the crowd at a Yala market.

"Don't be weak, because this is our beloved land and you don't have to be afraid of anything. Please come out to work. Don't be afraid of dying. Only God will decide when death comes," he said.

Anonymous handwritten leaflets have for two weeks threatened death or maiming for owners of businesses that remain open on Thursdays and Fridays. The region already suffers near-daily violence that has left 850 people dead since January 2004.

In Pattani, Thaksin promised to visit the region twice a month, and to send one of his ministers to visit the markets every Friday to help boost confidence.

Thaksin also met with tourism, fishing and industry leaders, who told him their businesses have suffered a sharp downturn because of the violence.

Thaksin promised to have the national tourism authority work with local operators to map out a plan to boost the industry.

As Thaksin toured the region, police in Yala defused a 15-kilogram bomb set in front of the Christian-run school of Mana Suksa.

(China Daily August 20, 2005)