Anti-government protesters massed outside the Thai premier's offices in Bangkok said that they would disperse as troops backed up by armoured vehicles tightened their grip on the city. "We held talks among the leaders since last night and have agreed that we will disperse our protesters for a while," Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, who is a core protest leader, told AFP, adding they wanted to avert loss of life.
Thai anti-government protesters were locked in a tense standoff Tuesday with security forces who corralled them at their main camp after street battles in Bangkok that left two dead and 113 injured. As dawn broke, police said that some 2,500 red-shirted protesters remained dug in around Government House, the offices of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva who has imposed a state of emergency in the capital.
Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters clashed with armed soldiers and Bangkok residents, leaving two dead and 113 injured in street battles that raged across the capital.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says a military campaign to shut down anti-government protests is coming to an end "This mission has progressed and is nearly complete, and I ask all of the authorities to remain firm," he said in an address on national television, flanked by top brass and cabinet ministers.
Thailand's four years of political turmoil have been dominated by a group of key figures and groups all defined by their relations to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra has accused his rivals in Thailand's embattled government of lying to cover up deaths in an army crackdown on protesters. Speaking from an undisclosed location outside of Thailand, he said soldiers, who were seen earlier firing rounds into the air to disperse his rioting supporters, had killed "many".
