Thailand admits to Muslim militants

Thailand has admitted for the first time the presence of suspected Muslim militants in the country.

The Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said there were a few individual members of Jemaah Islamiah, the South East Asian Islamic extremist group allegedly connected to al-Qaeda and that they were not active.

Mr Thaksin said officials were investigating whether they were linked to the Thai nationals charged in Cambodia on Wednesday with links to JI.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian authorities have continued to act against militant groups.

The police were moving to shut down two branches of the Om al-Qura organisation. A religious school connected with it has been closed and foreign teachers there ordered to leave the country.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service