Thai gov't confident to control anti-gov't rally
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Tailand's government is confident that security authorities will be able to control the anti-government rally near the Government House, the Thai Army Spokesman told Xinhua Saturday night.
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Hundreds of "Red-Shirt" supporters of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra hold a poster of him during a rally in Bangkok Oct. 17, 2009. [Xinhua] |
In a related development, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the protestors have rights to stage the rally, however, he called on them to hold the rally peacefully.
The prime minister has urged the protestors not to use violence since it will make trouble for the country, Thai News Agency quoted Abhisit as saying on Saturday during a provincial trip near Bangkok.
"The government is confident to be able to control the rally," said Army Spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
However, there was no report that there would be a third hand attempting to incite violence at the rally site, the Army Spokesman said.
The number of the red-shirted protestors from the United front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) was up to 7,000, said ColSansern.
The rally started at about 13 p.m., local time, at Cha-mi Ma-richet bridge in front of the Government House in a bid to demand a progress report concerning the royal pardon sought for ousted former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin, ousted by the military coup in September, 2006, was accused of corruption, has been in exile since then.
Thaksin returned to Thailand in February, 2008 to face corruption charges, but he later went to exile again and was convicted in absentia. He has been perceived as the real leader of the UDD people.
As the number of the protestors grew, at about 16.30 p.m. the UDD core leaders asked for extending the rally area, the Army Spokesman said.
After having assessed the situation, security authorities allowed them to do so in a bid to avoid confrontation, said Col Sansern.
Later the red-shirted protestors moved in to occupy a road beside the Government House's fence along the Prem Prachakorn Cannel.
