Malaysian groups have reacted with outrage at the grisly deaths of more than 80 Muslim protestors in neighbouring southern Thailand, with Kuala Lumpur expressing concern over the escalating violence and non-governmental organisations calling for sanctions against the country.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has offered help to control the situation and prevent further clashes. He was reported to have contacted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra to inform him of the importance of resolving the issue through consultations with community leaders in southern Thailand so as to obtain their support to end the violence.

Most victims suffocated while several broke their necks when 1,300 people were stuffed into vehicles for at least six hours, after police and troops had used water cannons, gunfire and tear gas to break up a demonstration on Monday outside a police station in the Muslim-dominated Narathiwat province.

The province shares its southern border with the Malaysian northeast state of Kelantan, which is ruled by the opposition PAS.

It was the worst violence in southern Thailand since Apr 28, when Thai troops stormed the ancient Krue Se mosque in Patani, killing more than 100 alleged Muslim insurgents who had taken refuge there.

''If there is anything that we can do to help, we will,'' said premier Abdullah, who is also chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Conferences (OIC). ''If not, we wish that the Thai government will be able to manage this crisis so that it will not spread and cause further violence.''

''We want the Thai government to take firm action,'' added Abdullah.

Confusing and ambiguous

That request for ''firm action'' to be taken prompted a sharp response from PAS, which said the premier's statement was confusing and ambiguous and implied that Abdullah agreed with the actions of the Thai security forces.

''If he meant that the Thai government had to take even stronger action and sacrifice more lives, that would be regrettable,'' Kamarudin Jaafar, a PAS central committee member, told IPS.

Four Muslim non-governmental organisations have issued a joint statement calling on the OIC and the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) to hold a meeting to in order to lodge their protest against the Thai government. They also went a step further, calling for sanctions against Thailand.

''The Thai government is not being sincere in handling the problem and Islamic nations worldwide must stop trade relations with it until they succeed in resolving this issue peacefully and bringing to book those responsible for this cruelty,'' said a joint statement issued by the Malay Initiatives Network (Teras), Secretariat for Asian Ulamas (Shura), Institute for Community Progress and Development (Impak) and Institute for the Research and Development of Syariah (Isra).

Special fund

The PAS youth wing, meanwhile, is reportedly planning a demonstration in front of the Thai embassy in Kuala Lumpur after Friday prayers to express its opposition over the killings.

Youth wing leader Salahudin Ayub said PAS Youth deeply regretted what happened in southern Thailand.

''We will launch a special fund to help families of the victims of indiscriminate shootings by Thai troops,'' he said.

The wing's Kelantan section has, meanwhile, handed a protest memorandum to a Thai consulate representative in the state capital, Kota Baru.

''We appeal to Thailand to act fairly towards the minority Malay community in south Thailand, and consultations must be carried out swiftly so that no group feels oppressed,'' said Zulkafli Yaacob, the Kelantan PAS youth wing leader, after handing the memorandum.

The Malay-Muslims account for 2.3 million people of Thailand's 63 million population, the majority of whom are Buddhists.

Militants among this Muslim minority have waged separatist struggles in the 1970s to reclaim three southern provinces that are home to the Muslims. Over a century ago, these provinces belonged to the kingdom of Pattani, which was annexed in 1902 by Siam, as Thailand was then known.

''The unhappiness of Thailand's three southern, predominantly Muslim, Malay-speaking provinces has international implications - for the West in its self-proclaimed 'war on terror'; for Asean, in which Muslims are the largest religious group; and for Malays in Malaysia, who inevitably sympathise with their brethren across the border,'' wrote columnist Philip Bowring in the International Herald Tribune.

Fact-finding missions

Parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said Malaysia and Asean should send fact-finding missions on the escalating violence and bloodshed in South Thailand, in particular the deaths of the protestors in Narathiwat.

''Thaksin should welcome such fact-finding missions by Malaysia and Asean and should not regard them as intrusions or interference with Thai domestic affairs,'' he said.

Lim added that the continuing turmoil and bloodshed in southern Thailand was bound to have an adverse impact on Malaysia, as Thailand's closest neighbour, and on the international credibility of Asean.

His colleague, Ronnie Liu, who is international secretary of DAP, said that ''Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra must seriously take steps to initiate a peace accord with the Thai Muslims in southern Thailand to prevent further violence and upheavals in his country.''

The latest incident showed both excessive use of force and a blatant disregard of human lives, observes Zaid Kamarudin, the president of Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), a Muslim missionary group promoting reforms.

''There should be a channel of communication and discussion between the protagonists,'' he told IPS. ''If it needs mediation, let there be mediation.''

Berita Harian, a major Malay-language daily, carried a banner front page headline of the south Thailand killings with the words: ''World condemns Thailand: Excessive force against Muslims.'' The paper's lead story was a stinging condemnation of the human rights abuses, supported by sharp criticism from around the world.

Wanting justice

The secretary of the PAS ulama wing, Badrulzzaman Yusuf, said that the tragic deaths showed that the Thai authorities had no respect for the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims practice fasting.

''Those who were gathered outside the police station were only trying to ensure the safety of their friends who had been detained and we are confident they had no other motive,'' he said.

To cram 1,300 people into a few trucks was inhuman, Badrulzzaman said, and lowered their dignity to below that accorded to animals. He, however, urged the victims' families to be patient and act according to the law.

A former secretary of the ruling Umno's international bureau agreed.

''They did not have to resort to shooting. It could certainly have been averted,'' Mustapa Yaacob told the national news agency Bernama.

''They (Thai security forces) should be sensitive to the feelings of the Muslims in Malaysia, especially in this neighbouring area, who have family connections with many of the Thais,'' he said.

''We don't like to interfere in other country's affairs, but as Muslim neighbours, we want to call for an investigation to ensure justice is done.''