Thai Cabinet calls emergency meeting
Source: Agencies |
May 2, 2010, Sunday
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THAI officials yesterday called an emergency Cabinet meeting in the face of unrelenting anti-government street protests.
With negotiations between the protesters and the government on hold and hopes for a peaceful end to the standoff dwindling, calls have grown for international mediators to be involved.
A government spokesman said the Cabinet would meet this morning in special session. He declined to say what the agenda would be, but it was widely expected to focus on the seven-week crisis that has paralyzed parts of Bangkok.
In recent days, pro-establishment protesters have called on the government to declare martial law and crack down on the Red Shirt protesters, whose camp occupies streets in Bangkok's commercial center.
The Red Shirts are demanding the government disband Parliament and call elections, and they said yesterday they would ignore any imposition of martial law.
"Even if they announce that, we are not going to go home. We are going to stay put," said Nattawut Saikua, a Red Shirt leader.
At least 27 people have been killed and nearly 1,000 wounded in sporadic violence.
Weng Tojirakarn, another Red Shirt leader, said reinforcements were coming to increase their presence in the streets of the capital.
"Red Shirts, people from the provinces, are coming in to Bangkok, starting from today. And this time they will stay a long time," he said yesterday.
The Red Shirts, drawn mostly from the rural and urban poor, are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The International Crisis Group thinktank appealed for foreign mediation, possibly led by East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta.
The government has repeatedly rejected efforts to bring in foreign mediators.
With negotiations between the protesters and the government on hold and hopes for a peaceful end to the standoff dwindling, calls have grown for international mediators to be involved.
A government spokesman said the Cabinet would meet this morning in special session. He declined to say what the agenda would be, but it was widely expected to focus on the seven-week crisis that has paralyzed parts of Bangkok.
In recent days, pro-establishment protesters have called on the government to declare martial law and crack down on the Red Shirt protesters, whose camp occupies streets in Bangkok's commercial center.
The Red Shirts are demanding the government disband Parliament and call elections, and they said yesterday they would ignore any imposition of martial law.
"Even if they announce that, we are not going to go home. We are going to stay put," said Nattawut Saikua, a Red Shirt leader.
At least 27 people have been killed and nearly 1,000 wounded in sporadic violence.
Weng Tojirakarn, another Red Shirt leader, said reinforcements were coming to increase their presence in the streets of the capital.
"Red Shirts, people from the provinces, are coming in to Bangkok, starting from today. And this time they will stay a long time," he said yesterday.
The Red Shirts, drawn mostly from the rural and urban poor, are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The International Crisis Group thinktank appealed for foreign mediation, possibly led by East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta.
The government has repeatedly rejected efforts to bring in foreign mediators.
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