Situation under control
BANGKOK - Thai security forces have ended their offensive at a
sprawling protest encampment in central Bangkok and the situation
is under control, the army spokesman said on Wednesday.
'The general situation is under control,' Sansern Kaewkamnerd
said in a televised address. 'Security forces have ended their
offensive.'
His announcement came after seven leaders of Red Shirt
protesters surrendered to authorities after the deadly army assault
on their fortified encampment. They have been led away by police in
central Bangkok. Sansern described them as 'terrorist leaders'.
A curfew is to be imposed across Bangkok on Wednesday night,
defence minister General Prawit Wongsuwon said after the military
offensive ended. Grenades exploded nearby as the Red Shirts
announced their decision. Two soldiers and a journalist were
wounded. Angry protesters also tried to set fire to a high-end
shopping mall, and black smoke billowed over Bangkok's skyline.
The Red Shirt leaders said they are ending their sit-in to
prevent more deaths. The army assault on their protest encampment
killed two protesters and an Italian photographer.
Away from the capital, thousands of i anti-government protesters
set fire to a provincial hall in the northeast, an official said on
Wednesday.
'Some 2,000 Red Shirt protesters set fire to the Udon Thani
provincial hall,' the province's governor, Amnat Pagarat, told AFP.
'The situation is under control now after soldiers arrived and
cleared them,' he said. 'Two rooms on the ground floor have been
destroyed,' he added. -- AP, AFP, REUTERS
