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Wirajuda said Indonesia would be 'more than willing' to mediate in the conflict which has claimed more than 3,000 lives. -- REUTERS
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JAKARTA - INDONESIA could mediate in Thailand's battle against a deadly insurgency in its Muslim southern provinces, the foreign minister said during a visit here by the new Thai leader on Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said the world's most populous Muslim nation would be 'more than willing' to mediate in the conflict, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives since it began in January 2004.
'(Thailand's) prime minister has underlined his country's willingness to solve the southern Thailand problem in a peaceful way and through dialogue.
Indonesia is seen as a country with the potential to help them,' he said.
'There have already been approaches, and now at the government level, Indonesia is more than willing to help,' he said.
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej arrived in Jakarta Wednesday on his first visit to Indonesia since taking office.
He thanked Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his help in his country's restive south, an autonomous Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed it a century ago, provoking decades of tension.
Mr Samak will attend a dinner hosted by the president before returning to Thailand on Thursday. -- AFP
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