Malaysia in the middle

Building peace: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (centre) looks on as Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet (left foreground) and Thailand’s then Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai (right foreground) take part in talks on a possible ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia in Putrajaya on July 28. — AFP

SOMETIME in 2005, a group of Malaysian journalists was flown into Thailand’s restive south from Kelantan to help mediate an unlikely negotiation.

Local insurgents had taken hostages and made an unusual request: they wanted to speak to Malaysians.