A 60-year-old Buddhist man

Thailand Militants Behead Buddhist Over Muslim Deaths, AFP Says

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- A 60-year-old Buddhist man was beheaded by unidentified militants in Thailand today in retaliation for the deaths of 87 Muslim protesters two weeks ago, Agence France-Presse said, citing a police statement.

The man was killed in majority-Muslim Narathiwat province, AFP said. Most of the protesters died after being crowded onto army trucks in the province's Tak Bai area.

``There were four leaflets left on his body, saying: `It is less than what you did to innocent people at Tak Bai','' police said in the statement, according to AFP.

Muslim insurgents are suspected of killing almost 30 officials and Buddhist civilians in reprisal for the protesters' deaths, AFP reported earlier. The 4 percent of Thais who follow Islam are in the majority in four southern provinces, where Muslim separatists have battled with authorities for a separate state for more than a century.

(AFP, 11-9)

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