Protesters' UN request dismissed by Thailand
Source: Agencies |
May 17, 2010, Monday
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THAILAND'S government insisted yesterday a crackdown on Red Shirt protesters would continue despite their plea for United Nations-mediated talks to end four days of street clashes with troops that have killed at least 30 people.
A pause by the Thai military was unnecessary since troops were "not using weapons to crack down on civilians," said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn.
The government said it was targeting "armed terrorists."
According to official figures, 59 people have died and more than 1,600 have been wounded since the Red Shirts began protests in March.
The toll includes 30 civilians killed and 232 injured since Thursday in fighting that has turned parts of Bangkok known for its nightlife into an urban war zone.
A towering column of black smoke rose over the city yesterday as protesters facing off with troops set fire to tires serving as a barricade.
Elsewhere, they doused a police traffic post with gasoline and torched it as sporadic gunfire rang out.
The Red Shirts have occupied a 3-square-kilometer protest zone - barricaded by tires and bamboo spikes - in one of Bangkok's ritziest areas to push their demands for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign immediately, dissolve Parliament and call new elections.
Drawn mostly from the rural and urban poor, the Red Shirts say Abhisit's coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it symbolizes a national elite indifference to the poor.
Soldiers have encircled the protest zone in a wide perimeter. Most of the fighting is taking place in the no-man's land in between.
The Red Shirt fighters have used homemade gasoline bombs, firecrackers, rocks - and in some cases guns - to attack troops behind sandbag bunkers. The soldiers have responded with rubber bullets and live ammunition.
Journalists have seen army snipers take aim through telescopic sights and fire to keep the attackers at bay.
With the Red Shirts hemmed in, protesters are running out of food, water and other supplies.
"We are willing to negotiate immediately," Nattawut Saikua, one of the protest leaders, told reporters yesterday. "What's urgent is to stop the deaths of people. Political demands can wait."
Nattawut said the UN must serve as a mediator.
In response, Panitan said all groups using weapons to threaten security forces must "stop immediately."
Thailand was a sovereign nation and there was no need for the UN to get involved in internal matters, he said.
All Bangkok schools were ordered to close today and yesterday long lines formed at supermarkets outside the protest zone.
A pause by the Thai military was unnecessary since troops were "not using weapons to crack down on civilians," said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn.
The government said it was targeting "armed terrorists."
According to official figures, 59 people have died and more than 1,600 have been wounded since the Red Shirts began protests in March.
The toll includes 30 civilians killed and 232 injured since Thursday in fighting that has turned parts of Bangkok known for its nightlife into an urban war zone.
A towering column of black smoke rose over the city yesterday as protesters facing off with troops set fire to tires serving as a barricade.
Elsewhere, they doused a police traffic post with gasoline and torched it as sporadic gunfire rang out.
The Red Shirts have occupied a 3-square-kilometer protest zone - barricaded by tires and bamboo spikes - in one of Bangkok's ritziest areas to push their demands for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign immediately, dissolve Parliament and call new elections.
Drawn mostly from the rural and urban poor, the Red Shirts say Abhisit's coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it symbolizes a national elite indifference to the poor.
Soldiers have encircled the protest zone in a wide perimeter. Most of the fighting is taking place in the no-man's land in between.
The Red Shirt fighters have used homemade gasoline bombs, firecrackers, rocks - and in some cases guns - to attack troops behind sandbag bunkers. The soldiers have responded with rubber bullets and live ammunition.
Journalists have seen army snipers take aim through telescopic sights and fire to keep the attackers at bay.
With the Red Shirts hemmed in, protesters are running out of food, water and other supplies.
"We are willing to negotiate immediately," Nattawut Saikua, one of the protest leaders, told reporters yesterday. "What's urgent is to stop the deaths of people. Political demands can wait."
Nattawut said the UN must serve as a mediator.
In response, Panitan said all groups using weapons to threaten security forces must "stop immediately."
Thailand was a sovereign nation and there was no need for the UN to get involved in internal matters, he said.
All Bangkok schools were ordered to close today and yesterday long lines formed at supermarkets outside the protest zone.
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