It says here that the call for Sharia is an “unexpected initiative,” but it doesn’t seem to have been at all unexpected among Jihad Watch readers here, and Charles Johnson called it also. “Thai PM apologizes for ex-govt’s tactics,” by Rungrawee C. Pinyorat for Associated Press, with thanks to LGF:
PATTANI, Thailand – Thailand’s interim prime minister publicly apologized Thursday for the former government’s hard-line policies against an Islamic insurgency, promising an investigation into allegations of human rights abuses by the administration deposed in a recent coup.
In an unexpected initiative, Chulanont Surayud also said he would urge the limited use of Islamic law in Thailand’s Muslim-majority south to settle some disputes, especially over inheritance and family affairs, he said.
Surayud was accompanied by army chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, a practicing Muslim who led the Sept. 19 coup. Previous governments have shown little acceptance of Muslim culture.