Red Shirts rule out talks after bloodbath
Source: Agencies |
April 12, 2010, Monday
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THAI anti-government protesters dug into their encampments around Bangkok and rejected negotiations yesterday after a month-long standoff escalated into clashes that killed 21 people in the country's worst political violence in nearly two decades.
Bullet casings, pools of blood and shattered army vehicles littered streets near a tourist area where soldiers tried to clear the protesters.
At least 874 people were injured in what one newspaper called the "Battle for Bangkok." Red Shirt protesters are demanding that the prime minister dissolve parliament, call early elections and leave the country.
Dozens of foreign governments issued warnings against citizens visiting Thailand, where tourism is a key industry.
Quiet returned to Bangkok yesterday after fierce fighting on Saturday that erupted when troops tried to clear one of the protest sites and ended when they retreated.
Protesters continued to occupy their two main bases, one in the capital's historic district and another on its main upscale shopping boulevard.
Protesters held a procession for the dead near their rally site in historic Bangkok. Marching with Buddhist monks, they held aloft several coffins and carried photos of the victims. One mother called her son "a hero" before breaking down in tears.
Earlier, protesters showed off a pile of weapons they had captured from troops, including rifles and heavy caliber machine-gun rounds.
Some of the heaviest fighting occurred near the backpacker mecca of Khao San Road, where protesters came in throngs yesterday to pose for pictures on top of seized army vehicles.
Others strolled around in confiscated army riot gear, some carrying weapons.
Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said the objective was to avoid more violence and "return the city to normal," but indicated there was no clear solution.
Also yesterday, the protesters broke into a satellite communications complex in a northern Bangkok suburb, forcing the operators to restore the Red Shirts' vital People Channel television station, which the government has twice shut down.
Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the Red Shirt movement that contends the current government is illegitimate because it does not reflect the results of the last elections, said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's hands were "bloodied" by the clashes.
Bullet casings, pools of blood and shattered army vehicles littered streets near a tourist area where soldiers tried to clear the protesters.
At least 874 people were injured in what one newspaper called the "Battle for Bangkok." Red Shirt protesters are demanding that the prime minister dissolve parliament, call early elections and leave the country.
Dozens of foreign governments issued warnings against citizens visiting Thailand, where tourism is a key industry.
Quiet returned to Bangkok yesterday after fierce fighting on Saturday that erupted when troops tried to clear one of the protest sites and ended when they retreated.
Protesters continued to occupy their two main bases, one in the capital's historic district and another on its main upscale shopping boulevard.
Protesters held a procession for the dead near their rally site in historic Bangkok. Marching with Buddhist monks, they held aloft several coffins and carried photos of the victims. One mother called her son "a hero" before breaking down in tears.
Earlier, protesters showed off a pile of weapons they had captured from troops, including rifles and heavy caliber machine-gun rounds.
Some of the heaviest fighting occurred near the backpacker mecca of Khao San Road, where protesters came in throngs yesterday to pose for pictures on top of seized army vehicles.
Others strolled around in confiscated army riot gear, some carrying weapons.
Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said the objective was to avoid more violence and "return the city to normal," but indicated there was no clear solution.
Also yesterday, the protesters broke into a satellite communications complex in a northern Bangkok suburb, forcing the operators to restore the Red Shirts' vital People Channel television station, which the government has twice shut down.
Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the Red Shirt movement that contends the current government is illegitimate because it does not reflect the results of the last elections, said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's hands were "bloodied" by the clashes.
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