ASIA: Thai protest leader says demonstrators will disperse
14 Apr 2009 2:35 PM
BANGKOK, April 14 AFP - Thai anti-government demonstrators massed in front of the prime minister's office in Bangkok will disperse, a protest leader said on Tuesday, a day after violent clashes with troops.
"We held talks among the leaders since last night and have agreed that we will disperse our protesters for a while," Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, one of the core protest leaders, told AFP.
"We are not surrendering, we are just dispersing the gathering because we have done nothing wrong," she said, following reports that protesters loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra would give themselves up.
The announcement came after hundreds of soldiers backed by armoured vehicles tightened a cordon around an estimated 2,000 protesters left at the site on Tuesday morning.
Troops fired bursts of automatic gunfire and teargas in running battles with the protesters in the capital on Monday that left two people dead and 113 injured.
"The reason that we have decided to disperse is because we want to avert any loss of life. Our protesters really want to fight and sacrifice themselves so we wanted to prevent a catastrophe," Prateep said.
