SINGAPORE, Oct 27: Governments and human rights groups in Asia expressed outrage on Wednesday at the grisly death of 85 detained Muslim protesters in southern Thailand and warned of more violence unless justice is done.

Neighbouring countries urged Bangkok to prevent an escalation of the crisis, which was likened by a Malaysian religious party to a "holocaust" for Thailand's Muslim minority.

The deaths occurred after troops broke up a violent protest on Monday and bundled some 1,300 detainees into trucks. They were left piled on top of each other in the trucks for at least six hours, leaving 85 dead - mainly from suffocation.

But Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra shed few tears over the incident. Despite an expression of regret to parliament, Mr Thaksin was defiant in the face of criticism of his attitude to human rights.

Mr Thaksin first attributed the deaths to Ramadan fasting and then to drug use among protesters. "It was an accident during transport which happened because the time and situation was pressing. There were few vehicles available, that was why they were crammed together which made it a bit rough," Mr Thaksin told reporters.

The army had less access to transport than usual because Monday was a public holiday, he said.

He also suggested some of the victims, who were among 1,300 people arrested after a violent demonstration in the southern province of Narathiwat, died because they were already weakened by fasting during Ramazan.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned his Thai counterpart that the bloodshed could spark more bloodshed.

Malaysia has put its border police on alert and warned citizens against crossing into southern Thailand, a popular destination for tourism and shopping.

Mr Abdullah's government has pointed to poverty among Muslims in southern Thailand as one of the causes of unrest, and has offered to help with the region's economic development.

Mr Abdullah met Mr Thaksin earlier this month to flesh out development plans for the three southernmost Thai provinces.

Mr Abdullah, whose country borders the troubled region, said he had spoken by telephone to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to express Malaysia's concern about the deaths.

"I told him we are concerned about the developments and are watching very closely what is happening," Mr Abdullah told a news conference.

"I also expressed my feelings that in the month of Ramazan, incidents of this nature can bring a lot of unhappiness and create anger and animosity among members of the community.

"We hope he will be able to manage the situation without allowing the violence to spread. It is important he manages it."

Buddhist-dominated Thailand belongs to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where Muslims constitute about half the estimated 500 million people and militants are exploiting grievances to recruit followers.

MUSLIM MINORITIES: Former ASEAN secretary-general Rodolfo Severino warned that unless the incident was properly investigated, Muslim minorities in Southeast Asia "will feel even more vulnerable and besieged" and "that's a formula for trouble".

"We also must remember that more than any other group of religious adherents, the Muslims identify with fellow Muslims more closely because of this concept of the Muslim community, whatever nationality they are," he said.

A spokesman for the Singapore foreign ministry said "we regret the tragic loss of so many lives" and "trust that the Thai government will take steps to return the situation to normalcy as soon as possible".

An official of Malaysia's opposition Islamic Party described the detainees' deaths as "a holocaust of the modern era" and said that if the Thai military does not exercise restraint, violence could spill over the border since many Malaysians have relatives on the Thai side.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Jakarta was concerned by the escalating tension in southern Thailand "but we are confident that the government of Thailand will conduct an appropriate inquiry".

Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim social organization, issued a statement which "strongly condemns the dehumanizing action carried out by the Thai security forces toward Muslims in southern Thailand and demands that the tragedy be referred to as a crime against humanity".

The independent Malaysian Human Rights Commission said that if the Thai government did not end the violence in the south, it could be viewed as ethnic cleansing by some people and exploited by extremist groups.

US WANTS INQUIRY: The US government called for a thorough inquiry. Iran condemned the deaths and urged the authorities to prosecute those responsible. The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said "the latest mass killing" was the result of a weakening of controls over the police and armed forces in the restive region, and said Bangkok "has blatantly ignored the signs of impending disaster". -AFP