BANGKOK, April 5: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stepped aside on Wednesday and let a deputy assume the top spot as politicians tried to find a way out of a long-running crisis. Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasathidya, responsible for security in the Muslim south where a separatist insurgency has boiled since 2004, would take over, but Thaksin could take back the job if necessary, a government spokesman said.

“I am taking a rest for now,” Thaksin, carrying a framed photograph of his family from his desk, told reporters after chairing a cabinet meeting at Government House. Thaksin said he would remain in Thailand.

His opponents were still digesting his stunning promise on Tuesday evening to quit. Many of his enemies had been dubious about whether the telecoms billionaire, whom they accuse of cronyism and abuse of power, really meant what he said.—Reuters