Forum Views () 
Forum Replies ()  
 
 
Read more with google mobile :
Thailand eyes fugitive ex-PM's extradition  
 
 
 
 
 
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
 
 
 
Australia
China
India
 Indonesia
Japan
Malaysia
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thailand eyes fugitive ex-PM's extradition
 
 
  
 
 AFP - Wednesday, December  8
 
 
Send
 
IM Story
 
Print
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thailand eyes fugitive ex-PM's extradition
 
 
 
 
 
 
BANGKOK (AFP) - – Thailand said on Tuesday it is looking into requesting the extradition of the kingdom's fugitive former leader after he was invited to give evidence to a US government human rights panel.
 
Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a 2006 military coup and lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption, is set to speak to the US committee on topics including deadly "Red Shirt" anti-government protests in Bangkok.
 
The former billionaire telecom tycoon's invitation to Washington comes after the protracted legal battle for the extradition from Thailand of alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was eventually sent to America last month.
 
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has rejected suggestions that there was a deal to swap Thaksin for Bout.
 
Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said authorities in Bangkok were legally obliged to seek extradition.
 
"Of course they have to act on it, they are just looking and evaluating what they have to do. This is a very normal procedure," he said.
 
"It is expected that in normal circumstances countries will honour the (extradition) treaty, but they may have their own procedures and their own requirements."
 
He said it was not certain that Thaksin would make the US trip.
 
Neil Simon, spokesman for the Helsinki Commission, an official US watchdog overseeing human rights and other issues, confirmed late Monday that the event was planned for December 16.
 
In a letter to Thaksin, the panel said the "recent crackdown on political protesters" was of "particular interest".
 
The former prime minister -- still a hugely divisive figure at home -- was invited to give his "perspective on the human rights situation in Thailand, including freedom of the press and freedom of expression".
 
He will also be asked to speak on the Thai government's efforts to quell a separatist insurgency in the south of the country, which according to activists has claimed over 4,400 lives since it began in 2004.
 
Thaksin drew wide support from Thailand's rural poor when he was in office and is still held in high regard by many Red Shirts, who accuse the current government of being elitist and undemocratic.
 
The Reds' rally demanding immediate elections overwhelmed parts of Bangkok for two months before a military crackdown brought the demonstration to a bloody end in May.
 
More than 90 people were left dead and nearly 1,900 injured in unrest during the protests and many of those killed were civilians.
 
"I welcome the fact that the US authorities have recognised that the horrific human rights atrocities that occurred in April and May this year are to be fully and independently investigated," Thaksin said in a statement responding to the invitation.
 
Thai government spokesman Panitan said authorities were considering whether to send a representative to testify at the hearing.
 
Thaksin is wanted by the Thai government for abuse of power during his time as leader.
 
Thai courts have also issued a series of arrest warrants on charges including terrorism -- an accusation linked to the violent street rallies. The authorities have accused him of bankrolling the protests and inciting unrest.
 
Thaksin, a former owner of English football club Manchester City, has said the terrorism charges against him are "politically motivated".
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Recommend
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Send
 
IM Story
 
Print
 
 
 
 
 
 
Related Articles
 
 
Blast in holy Indian city of Varanasi AFP -  41 minutes ago
 
Temple blast in northern India injures 20 people Reuters -  52 minutes ago
 
Japan's first Venus probe struggling to enter orbit AFP - 1 hour 2 minutes ago
 
US diplomat in Myanmar for post-election talks AFP - 1 hour 8 minutes ago
 
Suicide attack targets top official in Pakistan AFP - 1 hour 16 minutes ago
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
News Search
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Top Stories
 
 
 
 
EU clears Irish rescue as rows rage on wider needs
German industrial orders gain 1.6% in month: ministry
EU formally adopts Irish bailout plan
Ireland braces for new austerity budget
Weakened Obama unveils tax compromise
 
 
 
 More Top Stories »
 
 
 
ADVERTISEMENT
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Most Popular
 
 
 
 
Most Viewed
 
Most Recommended
 
 
 
 
Russian satellites crash into Pacific: space official
 
WikiLeaks adds twist to climate hopes
 
Aspirin sharply reduces cancer risk: study
 
Prince William and Kate use TV interview for charity: palace
 
British scientists find key to repairing MS damage
 
 
 More Most Viewed »
 
 
 
 
 
NASA finds new form of life... on Earth
 
World leaders scramble for funds to save the tiger
 
US, S.Korea plan war games after N.Korean attack
 
Obama gets 12 stitches after 'elbow in the lip'
 
 
 More Most Recommended »
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
 
 
 
 
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
 
 
Stars and latest movies
 
 
Best travel destinations
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
More on Yahoo! News
 
 
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
 
Also on Yahoo!
 
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
 
Site Highlights
 
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Entertainment
Photos
Yahoo! News Network 
 
 
 
 Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
 
 
        
    
  
   
 
 
    
   
 
Other News on Tuesday,  7 December 2010 Prince William and Kate use TV interview for charity: palace  
Israel fire quelled, senior policewoman dies of burns  
Egypt's ruling party crushes opposition in vote  
Russia's Medvedev on key Poland visit amid thaw  
Europe divided over bonds, bailout fund boost  
L'Oreal heiress reconciled with daughter  
WikiLeaks adds twist to climate hopes  
Nigeria militants say hit oil pipeline in delta
|  
Monitors cry fraud as ruling party eyes Egypt poll sweep  
ECB buys nearly two billion euros in government debt  
British scientists find key to repairing MS damage  
Three injured as Greek police clash with protesters
|  
NATO declares no winter let-up against Taliban  
Medvedev does not exclude second presidential term  
Google unveils new smartphone, the Nexus S  
Karzai shelves plan to ban private security firms  
Egypt puzzled after string of Red Sea shark attacks  
Best Buy, Carphone to sell Google Nexus S phone  
Venezuela moves flood-hit families into resort hotels
|  
U.N. doubted case for Hariri inquiry arrests-report  
Sprint in deal with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson  
Egypt's ruling party crushes opposition in vote
|  
LG Display, Chi Mei, others face EU fines: source  
US airline Continental guilty over Concorde crash  
ICC to study possible North Korea war crimes in South Korea  
Gays press US court to uphold same-sex marriage  
Berlin film fest invites Iranian ex-detainee to join jury  
Bollywood goes retro to boost box office sales  
French oyster-lovers brace for Christmas shell-shock  
Hermes 'united' in drawbridge defence against LVMH  
German TV show 'will go on' despite live crash  
Obama hosts Kennedy Center honorees  
Cisco, Juniper step up in cloud with deals
|  
Best Buy, Carphone to sell Google Nexus S phone
|  
BBC presenter apologizes for four-letter gaffe  
Crash hurts Russia satellite challenge to U.S. GPS
|  
Johnny Cash jumpsuit fetches $50,000 at auction  
Liverpool plan Indonesian football academy  
Depp, Jolie bring old Hollywood glamour to The Tourist
|  
Fergie returns to 'New Year's Rockin' Eve'
|  
Exclusive: AOL mulls breakup, then merger with Yahoo  
Google opens e-book store in Kindle challenge  
Clearwire eyes selling up to $2 billion spectrum  
Google takes on Amazon, Apple in e-books market  
LG Display, Chi Mei, others face EU fines: source  
Sprint in deal with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson  
Cameron on visit to Afghanistan  
Diplomatic impasse over Korea peninsula crisis
|  
US commander inherits tough fight for Taliban state  
UK PM eyes 2011 Afghan pullback, dismisses troop
|  
World powers, Iran move nuclear talks forward  
Crisis-hit Ireland awaits crucial 2011 budget  
WikiLeaks founder to meet British police  
Tense Haiti awaits results of turbulent elections
|  
Weakened Obama unveils tax compromise  
British PM in unannounced visit to Afghanistan  
China buoys climate talks with binding target
|  
Afghan minister urges caution in diplomacy after leaks  
U.S. blocked Iran candidate election on climate body: WikiLeaks
|  
Aspirin sharply reduces cancer risk: study  
Mbeki ends Ivory Coast poll row talks without deal
|  
Tumblr blogging service back on feet after crash  
Indonesia the new frontier  
US-TECH Summary  
NATO has secret plan to defend Baltics: leak
|  
England's cricketers have series momentum  
Report: N.Korea deploys torpedo-carrying midget subs  
Venezuela moves flood-hit families into resort hotels
|  
Study links cellphones to child misbehavior  
Peru's Humala calls Garcia a threat to democracy
|  
Death toll in Pakistan suicide attack climbs to 43  
Video games get kids to eat more veg, fruit: study  
One dead, 7 missing in Hong Kong after boat collision  
Internet body meets on domain names, IP addresses  
Gold prices expected to go on increasing for next one year  
Diplomatic impasse over Korea peninsula crisis  
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary  
Oprah fans touch down for Aussie adventure  
East Asian economies to grow 8.8pct in 2010: ADB  
Myanmar people get Q and A with Suu Kyi  
Study links cellphones to child misbehavior
|  
Depp, Jolie bring old Hollywood glamour to "The Tourist"  
OnLive to offer streaming movies, challenge Netflix  
OnLive to offer streaming movies, challenge Netflix
|  
Washington Post watching online pay experiments  
Nvidia wins more notebook designs for 2011  
Nvidia wins more notebook designs for 2011
|  
Sprint eyes $11 billion savings, to shut Nextel network  
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary  
Microsoft offers Salesforce users money to switch
|  
Google unveils new smartphone, the Nexus S  
Depp, Jolie bring old Hollywood glamour to "The Tourist"  
Medvedev honours Polish master director Wajda  
China interest rate hike may be imminent: state media  
S.Korea Dec inflation conditions seen improving -vice fin min  
Seoul shares gain 0.5 pct led by techs  
Madoff trustee sues HSBC, seeks 9 billion dollars  
AIDS charity raises $1 million, reviving dead celebs
|  
Pakistan  
Seoul shares advance 0.5 pct led by techs  
Katy Perry Gets Raunchy on The Simpsons
|  
S.Korea parliament panel approves bond tax bill  
Justin Bieber trading cards hit stores
|  
NZ 98-day T-bills yield 3.06 pct at tender  
Howard Stern may have to take a paycut
|  
S.Korea won at 2-wk high on exporter demand, euro  
Taylor Swift sells out first tour dates in minutes
|  
NZ house prices stabilise in November  
Canada to preview Oprah Winfrey's OWN before debut
|  
Iran will not discuss atom enrichment at next talks  
Cameron, in Afghanistan, eyes British pullout in 2011  
WikiLeaks founder Assange refused bail by UK court
|  
US defence secretary arrives in Afghanistan  
UK PM eyes 2011 Afghan pullback, U.S. reviews war
|  
U.S. blocked Iran candidate election on U.N climate body -cables  
Israeli rabbis tell Jews not to sell homes to Arabs
|  
German industrial orders gain 1.6% in month: ministry  
Temple blast in northern India injures 20 people
|  
Cameron looks to 2011 to start Afghan withdrawal  
Samsung sees 2011 handset shipments up 18 percent: report  
China, Nobel committee at odds over award boycott
|  
Gates in Afghanistan to view progress, meet troops  
EU formally adopts Irish bailout plan  
British PM in unannounced visit to Afghanistan  
Uganda goverment denies opposition election accusations
|  
S.Korea live-fire drill enters second day  
Japan man gets death sentence for killing family  
United Nations prepares Ivory Coast staff pullout
|  
Thailand eyes fugitive ex-PM's extradition  
China and Nobel committee at odds over award boycott  
Analysis: Talks fail to bridge gap with Iran
|  
China labels Nobel committee 'clowns'  
N. Korean defectors want to join reserve forces  
S. Korean president calls for fortification of islands  
Polaroid cameras carve niche among young Indonesians  
China finally allows lawyers to attend interrogations  
Pakistani stocks, o/n rates flat; rupee firms  
Smartphones pose big threat to text messages in Indonesia  
Best Buy to sell Google Nexus S phone
|  
Pakistan plans to seek IMF loan extension  
Foxconn to ship iPad 2 as early as end February: report
|  
Inflation, currency weakness threaten Vietnam: donors  
Katy Perry Gets Raunchy on "The Simpsons"  
Johnny Cash jumpsuit sells for 50,000 dollars  
Buoyant India eyes 9% growth in new forecasts  
Justin Bieber trading cards hit stores  
Salesforce.com takes on Oracle in database market
|  
Asian shares mostly up but Tokyo hit by surging yen  
Howard Stern may have to take a paycut  
Sprint eyes $11 billion savings, to shut Nextel network
|  
AIDS charity raises $1 million, reviving "dead" celebs  
East Asia heading for economic slowdown, warns ADB  
Samsung sees 2011 handset shipments up 18 percent: report
|  
Canada to preview Oprah Winfrey's OWN before debut  
Top Chinese official says some economic data 'man-made'  
Taylor Swift sells out first tour dates in minutes  
Scottish artist's sound installation wins Turner Prize  
A global goodbye for Japan pop star Hikaru Utada  
Plot needed big changes, new Narnia filmmakers say
|  
Samsung sees 2011 handset shipments up 18 percent: report  
Alliance heralds era of smartphone wallets  
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro  
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found  
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever  
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production  
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time  
AMD to Start Production of piledriver  
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs  
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia  
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air  
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch  
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent  
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up  
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform  
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis  
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets  
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights