Thailand praised a one-day visit by Malaysia's deputy prime minister on Tuesday as proof of closer cooperation in curbing attacks in the kingdom's restive south after earlier rejecting outside help as interference.

Najib Abdul Razak held talks with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on border security after more than 100 suspected Muslim militants were killed in the kingdom's south in clashes last week with security forces.

"Our mechanisms that we agreed on (during Thaksin's recent visit to Kuala Lumpur) have worked, and we will continue to intensify our cooperation," Thailand's Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told reporters after the hour-long meeting at Government House.

"We have a very, very good understanding, and they have a very good understanding of the situation," Surakiart said, referring to violence in the south which has claimed about 180 lives since January.

Earlier the minister had said intelligence sharing would be the main focus of the meeting and stressed that "intelligence information is the most important factor to counter the unrest."

Kuala Lumpur had also taken concrete steps to help Thailand by agreeing to turn over two Thai Muslims identified as "key figures" behind the unrest in the south since January, a Thai source familiar with the exchange said Tuesday.

Thaksin had raised Malaysia's hackles in late March when he said the perpetrators of a bomb attack which wounded dozens of civilians had slipped across the border.

Fair exchange

Malaysia had refused to extradite the pair earlier for fear they would be executed by Thai authorities, the Thai source said.

"Malaysia will hand over two of five leaders of the unrest to Thailand by mid-May, after Thailand handed over five of Malaysia's most wanted persons during the visit by the Thai prime minister," the official told AFP .

Malaysia said last week it had tightened security along its frontier with southern Thailand as it feared violence between suspected Muslim rebels and security forces could spill over the border.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, who was part of the delegation to Thailand, brushed off comments by Thaksin at the weekend about foreign interference, saying he did not believe they were aimed at Malaysia.

"I am sure Prime Minister Thaksin's strong words against foreign interferences are not directed at Malaysia because we understand each other better and have been in close cooperation in this matter," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times newspaper.

He said there could have been a misunderstanding following Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's offer Friday to help anyone fleeing the violence.

Thaksin's comments came after Malaysia made the offer to take Thai refugees and calls by the UN and human rights groups for an inquiry into the clashes.

The Thai government said Najib was leading a delegation which also included armed forces chief General Mohamad Zahidi Zainuddin, police inspector general Mohamad Bakri Omar and several ministers. - AFP