Thai Red Shirts OK Senate negotiations offer
05/19/2010 BANGKOK — Thai anti-government protesters on Tuesday agreed to an offer by the nation’s Senate to mediate crisis talks with the government to end wild street battles that have left 38 dead. Five days of clashes with troops have reduced parts of Bangkok to battle zones, with columns of smoke billowing overhead from piles of tires set ablaze by the “Red Shirt” protesters occupying the city’s main shopping district. As the United Nations urged Thailand to “step back from the brink,” some 60 senators sent a letter to the government and the Reds Monday, urging them to halt the violence and enter into talks organized by the upper house. “The Reds agree to accept the proposal by the Senate speaker who wants to mediate the talks, and are ready to join from now,” said protest leader Nattawut Saikuar. “We will not go with any conditions, the senator is free to offer any proposals and we are willing to consider them,” he added, in a climbdown from earlier demands for talks brokered by the UN or another international agency. Two previous rounds of negotiations have raised hopes for a peaceful resolution but then collapsed, and the government has not responded to the latest proposal.... MORE Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100519hed5.html |
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