ID :
113918
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 13:33
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http://m.oananews.org//node/113918
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Thai PM cuts short Brunei visit for 2nd round of talks with Red Shirt leaders
BANGKOK, March 29 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday shortened his official visit to Brunei to return to Bangkok for the second round of negotiations to find a way out of the country's political crisis with the anti-government Red Shirt leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD).
The premier left Bangkok Monday morning for his one-day official visit to Brunei to strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations.
Mr Abhisit is scheduled to make a courtesy call on Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah before holding talks with a full contingent of officials, covering a wide range of cooperation between the two nations and their bilateral cooperation under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) framework.
The Thai prime minister however cancelled a portion of his afternoon schedule to enable an earlier return to Bangkok,at 4.30pm, to attend the second round of talks with the UDD leaders scheduled at 6pm.
Following an increasingly tense confrontation between security forces and the red-clad protesters after two weeks of demonstrations demanding that the premier dissolve the House and call a fresh election, Mr Abhisit talked for three hours Sunday in face-to-face talks broadcast live on national television with three key Red Shirt leaders.
As the negotiations ended without any concrete resolution to the country's current political crisis, both sides agreed to resume negotiations Monday at 6pm.
Meanwhile, Natthawut Saikua, a key UDD leader, said Monday's negotiations will be the final round of talks and no matter the result would be the UDD remains steadfast that the house dissolution is the only way out.
He said again that the red shirts will adhere to peaceful means to press their demands.
UDD leader Jatuporn Prompan pressed Mr Abhisit to meet their demand within a fortnight during the Sunday talks, and said if the government agrees to the red shirts' demand to dissolve the house within 15 days, it still has 45 days to work as a caretaker government, but if the government rejects the demand, the UDD will intensify its anti-government campaign by taking it to another level. However, he refused to disclose about the Reds' new strategy but only stated that it would be nonviolent.
Although the rallies have been peaceful so far, there has been a series of grenade and bomb attacks at key government offices
and military installations, as well as banks.
In the latest incident, a Bangkok Bank branch near the home of former prime minister and veteran politician Banharn Silapa-archa was hit by gunfire, while a bomb attack took place at the Administrative Court in the northern province of Chiang Mai late Sunday.
Police inspected damage at Bangkok Bank, Bangyeekan branch, 300 metres from Banharn's home, hit by gunfire and with bullets penetrating the bank's plate glass.
The bank manager said the time of the incident is not known but said that the attackers might have fired at the bank while police left to see the grenade attack at the home of Mr Banharn, chief adviser to Chart Thai Pattana Party, one of the parties in the Abhisit coalition government.
The explosion at the former premier's home occurred at about 10.30pm Sunday when an M-67 hand grenade hit the outside wall of Mr Banharn's home and fell on the footpath before exploding, injuring one passer-by.
In Chiang Mai, stronghold of supporters of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, police investigated a car park of the Chiang Mai Administrative Court which was hit by bomb attack late Sunday.
No casualties were reported. Police said that the incident is likely to raise feelings of apprehension and uncertainty among the public. (TNA)
The premier left Bangkok Monday morning for his one-day official visit to Brunei to strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations.
Mr Abhisit is scheduled to make a courtesy call on Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah before holding talks with a full contingent of officials, covering a wide range of cooperation between the two nations and their bilateral cooperation under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) framework.
The Thai prime minister however cancelled a portion of his afternoon schedule to enable an earlier return to Bangkok,at 4.30pm, to attend the second round of talks with the UDD leaders scheduled at 6pm.
Following an increasingly tense confrontation between security forces and the red-clad protesters after two weeks of demonstrations demanding that the premier dissolve the House and call a fresh election, Mr Abhisit talked for three hours Sunday in face-to-face talks broadcast live on national television with three key Red Shirt leaders.
As the negotiations ended without any concrete resolution to the country's current political crisis, both sides agreed to resume negotiations Monday at 6pm.
Meanwhile, Natthawut Saikua, a key UDD leader, said Monday's negotiations will be the final round of talks and no matter the result would be the UDD remains steadfast that the house dissolution is the only way out.
He said again that the red shirts will adhere to peaceful means to press their demands.
UDD leader Jatuporn Prompan pressed Mr Abhisit to meet their demand within a fortnight during the Sunday talks, and said if the government agrees to the red shirts' demand to dissolve the house within 15 days, it still has 45 days to work as a caretaker government, but if the government rejects the demand, the UDD will intensify its anti-government campaign by taking it to another level. However, he refused to disclose about the Reds' new strategy but only stated that it would be nonviolent.
Although the rallies have been peaceful so far, there has been a series of grenade and bomb attacks at key government offices
and military installations, as well as banks.
In the latest incident, a Bangkok Bank branch near the home of former prime minister and veteran politician Banharn Silapa-archa was hit by gunfire, while a bomb attack took place at the Administrative Court in the northern province of Chiang Mai late Sunday.
Police inspected damage at Bangkok Bank, Bangyeekan branch, 300 metres from Banharn's home, hit by gunfire and with bullets penetrating the bank's plate glass.
The bank manager said the time of the incident is not known but said that the attackers might have fired at the bank while police left to see the grenade attack at the home of Mr Banharn, chief adviser to Chart Thai Pattana Party, one of the parties in the Abhisit coalition government.
The explosion at the former premier's home occurred at about 10.30pm Sunday when an M-67 hand grenade hit the outside wall of Mr Banharn's home and fell on the footpath before exploding, injuring one passer-by.
In Chiang Mai, stronghold of supporters of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, police investigated a car park of the Chiang Mai Administrative Court which was hit by bomb attack late Sunday.
No casualties were reported. Police said that the incident is likely to raise feelings of apprehension and uncertainty among the public. (TNA)
