Malaysia is concerned over the latest clash in neighbouring southern Thailand in which six protesters died in a confrontation with security forces, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said today.

"The flare up in southern Thailand is a matter of concern to us. Thailand is a close neighbour. Any incidents will be watched closely here," Syed Hamid told reporters.

The six demonstrators died Monday when security forces armed with automatic weapons broke up a day-long protest of up to 3,000 people outside a police station. Reports said they had been shot dead while police declined to confirm the information.

The fighting was sparked by the arrests of six Muslim men accused of handing guns to rebels in Muslim-majority southern Thailand where an insurgency has left more than 330 people dead this year.

Malaysia shares a border with Thailand, and Syed Hamid said Kuala Lumpur was working closely with Bangkok to develop the troubled south so that economic prosperity would bring peace to the region.

Tactics condemned

Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hosted talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the resort island of Phuket earlier this month to flesh out development plans for the three southernmost Thai provinces.

"We are sad there has been an incident. We will wait and see what had happened," Syed Hamid said.

Thai Interior Minister Bhokin Bhalakula told reporters in Bangkok the demonstrators were Thai Muslims who "don't respect the law and their religion. They made trouble while authorities tried to do everything to stop it".

But members of the Islamic community condemned the scale of the response by the security forces.

Rights activists have previously accused the authorities of heavy-handed tactics in the south, including the storming of a mosque that left 32 Muslim militants dead during an April 28 uprising in which a total of 108 people died.