August 28, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 25, 1429

BANGKOK, Aug 27: A Thai court issued arrest warrants on Wednesday for nine leaders of an anti-government movement laying siege to the prime minister’s office in an attempt to force him and his cabinet from power.

The warrants accuse the nine leaders of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) of inciting unrest and trying to overthrow the government, a crime that carries up to 15 years in prison.

It was unclear how police would arrest the nine, who are surrounded by thousands of flag-waving supporters on the lawn of Government House, normally the nerve centre of the Thai government.

Interior Minister Kowit Wattana, a former national police chief, suggested the authorities would continue to exercise restraint in the wake of the PAD’s siege and its occupation on Tuesday of several ministries and a state television station.

“I am begging to my fellow citizens to leave the Government House and hold a rally somewhere else where police will have no objection to it,” he told a news conference. “I don’t want to call this an ultimatum, more an appeal.”

Two thousand police have taken up position in and around the compound, although the only confrontation was in the early hours of the morning when 15 people were injured in scuffles with riot officers.

An opinion poll released on Wednesday showed a marked shift in the public mood against the PAD, whose 2005 protests against then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra led ultimately to his removal in a military coup the following year.

The Bangkok University survey suggested 73 per cent of people in the capital disagreed with the three-month campaign by the group, which accuses the current elected coalition of being an illegitimate Thaksin proxy.

The PAD also proclaims itself a defender of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej against a supposed Thaksin plan to turn Thailand into a republic — a charge vehemently denied by Thaksin, who is now in exile in London, and the government.

NOT ENOUGH JAILS: After the warrants were issued, PAD heavyweight Chamlong Srimuang, a retired major-general and ascetic Buddhist who led a 1992 people power uprising against military rule, urged the demonstrators to stand fast.

“More people will join us tomorrow. Don’t leave or we will lose. If we hold on, we will win in the next three to four days,” he told the crowd at Government House.

Earlier, Chamlong told reporters: “They can’t arrest us all. There aren’t enough jails.”

The stock market has fallen 23 per cent since Chamlong and his allies launched their latest anti-government campaign, amid fears of everything from policy paralysis at a time of stuttering economic growth to bloodshed on the streets.

Tuesday’s crossing of the line into violent protest helped send the baht to its lowest level against the dollar since November.

It also caused a switch from broadly sympathetic coverage in the domestic press to outright condemnation.—Reuters