Bangkok, March 6, SPA -- Three army commanders responsiblefor the deaths of 78 Muslim protesters in Thailand's troubled Muslim-majority south should be dismissed, the head of a panel mulling their punishment was quoted as saying Sunday. The officers were in charge of transporting more than1,300 detained protesters after a riot in southernNarathiwat province's Tak Bai district on Oct. 25.Seventy-eight of the protesters suffocated or were crushedto death after being bound and piled into army trucks. The government's handling of the incident _ particularlythe 78 deaths in custody _ drew international criticism andbrought attention to Thailand's south, where more thanhundreds have died in sectarian violence over the pastyear. Gen. Kasemchart Naretsanee, chairman of a Defense Ministrycommittee dealing with the case, said the three commandersshould be removed from their jobs, but not forced out ofgovernment service "as they have worked to serve thenation," according to the Thai-language Matichonnewspaper. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra or Defense MinisterSumpun Boonyanun will consider any further disciplinaryaction, he said. The three are Lt. Gen. Pisarn Wattanawongkiri, then armychief of the southern region, Maj. Gen. Sinchai Nutsathit,deputy chief of the southern region, and Maj. Gen.Chalermchai Wirunpeth, chief of the unit that transportedthe protesters.--SPA1435 Local Time 1135 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/244564