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Thai PM lifts emergency rule ahead of new protest
AFP - Saturday, April 25
BANGKOK (AFP) - - Thai Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva Friday lifted a state of emergency imposed in Bangkok after violent protests, but said troops would remain deployed amid opposition plans to take to the streets again.
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Abhisit said he had ended 12 days of emergency rule to show the world that the troubled kingdom was stable and also to foster reconciliation with supporters of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
"We will send a signal to the international community that normalcy has been restored," Abhisit said at his offices in Bangkok's Government House, which were at the epicentre of the protests by the pro-Thaksin "Red Shirts".
He declared an emergency in the capital and five surrounding provinces on April 12, a day after demonstrators forced the cancellation of a summit of Asian leaders in the coastal city of Pattaya.
Two people were killed and 123 injured as protesters fought running battles with troops across Bangkok for two days, before finally dispersing on April 14 in the face of a threatened military crackdown.
Tensions also rose a week ago after an assassination attempt in Bangkok on the founder of the anti-Thaksin "Yellow Shirts" movement, Sondhi Limthongkul, who led a crippling blockade of the capital's airports last year.
The Red Shirts announced soon after the emergency was lifted that they would rally on Saturday at a central Bangkok park, instead of at a venue they had initially planned outside the capital.
"I hope some 5,000 people will rally with us. We will disperse at 11pm and have no plan to move to anywhere," organiser Somyot Pruksakasemsuk told AFP. The largest rally by the group attracted 100,000 people in early April.
They said they would demand the release of Red Shirt leaders held under emergency laws and the reopening of the movement's radio station, but unlike earlier Bangkok rallies there would be no phone-in from Thaksin himself.
The prime minister warned the protesters not to violate the law on Saturday.
"I don't think they can challenge the government but I ask them to rally within the constitution. Everyone must learn from the past so that there is no social conflict," he told reporters.
He said he was confident the international community would accept that it was "crucial to maintain troops" in areas where there was still public concern and where police were overstretched.
"Foreigners will understand as they closely monitor the rallies," he said.
Thailand's image as a "Land of Smiles" for tourists has taken a major hit from the recent disturbances, with flag carrier Thai Airways reportedly suffering a 20 percent drop in bookings since the emergency was imposed.
During a parliamentary debate overnight, Abhisit had said he would lift the emergency as part of wider efforts to end the years of political turmoil since Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
The Red Shirts want Abhisit to quit and call elections, saying that the Democrat Party leader came to power unfairly in December after a court toppled Thaksin's allies from power.
"Lifting the state of emergency is part of measures to find a solution for the country. The government wants to show its sincerity, that the government wants reconciliation and to make the country move forwards," he said.
Abhisit faces a major challenge to heal the deep rifts in Thai society between the largely rural poor -- many of whom still love the populist Thaksin, -- and powerful Bangkok cliques in the palace, military and bureaucracy.
The situation has been further inflamed by the issue last week of warrants for Thaksin -- who lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption -- and 12 other allies for allegedly inciting the protests in Pattaya.
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