April 23, 2010
Thai protesters call for talks after clashes
By CBC News
CBC News
Thai anti-government protesters say they are willing to hold talks with the government, but they are still calling on the prime minister to dissolve parliament and call new elections.
Thai anti-government protesters say they are willing to hold talks with the government, but they are still calling on the prime minister to dissolve parliament and call new elections.
The demonstrators, dubbed Red Shirts, believe that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government is illegitimate.
The protesters - who had previously called for an immediate dissolution of parliament - said Friday that the prime minister should dissolve parliament in the next 30 days.
Travel warning
The Department of Foreign Affairs [http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countrie ... t-eng.asp?id=290000] is warning Canadians to avoid "non-essential travel to central Bangkok's commercial business district" because of the ongoing protests and the "significant risk of violent clashes and further unrest" in the area.
Protest leaders said they issued the one-month deadline in reaction to a string of violent clashes around their protests site in Bangkok, including a series of grenade attacks Thursday that killed one person and wounded as many as 86.
Jaran Ditthapichai, one of the Red Shirt leaders, said the protest group had already held unofficial talks with the government. He claimed the government had privately expressed a willingness to compromise, suggesting it could dissolve the government in three months.
Thai government officials have yet to comment on the proposal.
The CBC's Michel Cormier has been talking to Red Shirt protesters in Bangkok, and he said there is a sense "that there may be light at the end of this tunnel."
The head of Thailand's armed forces said Friday that he did not intend to try to clear the protesters out of the city, and Cormier said many people in Bangkok are hopeful that the Red Shirts' offer to hold talks could lead to an end of the demonstrations that have plagued the capital for weeks.
The late-night attacks involved five M-79 grenades shot from a location near the site where the anti-government protesters have been camping out, government officials said.
Passengers flee station
The first three blasts tore through an elevated train station on Silom Road, known as Thailand's Wall Street. Soldiers who were stationed in the area helped passengers flee the station after the explosions.
Two later blasts struck an intersection filled with bystanders and a group of demonstrators who support the government and have been calling on the Red Shirts to end their protests.
Nearby elevated train and subway stations were closed Friday and the head of a key security agency, Tharit Pengdit, urged the public to avoid the area near the protests. He warned that anyone involved in "terrorism" will face the death penalty.
The Red Shirts, who are mostly from rural areas, have been rallying in Bangkok since March 12 and have staged a number of dramatic protests.
In mid-March, the protesters started collecting donated blood, which was later tossed at government buildings. The protesters have also swarmed the prime minister's home and stormed parliament, forcing several government officials to escape by helicopter.
The demonstrators are in violation of several laws, including a state of emergency.
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Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
發表於 2010-4-23 11:25
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