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Red Shirts to step up activities
[Straits Times] THE new head of Thailand's 'Red Shirts' said on Wednesday the anti-government movement would step up its campaign to secure the release of its leaders with gatherings twice a month in Bangkok.'From now on Red Shirt people will rally on the 10th and 19th of every month to intensify our fight in terms of number of protesters and activities,' Thida Thavornseth, acting chairman of the movement, said at a news conference. A two-month rally by the Reds from mid-March of this year attracted 100,000 people at its peak demanding immediate elections. More than 90 people were killed in violence sparked by the protests, which saw a series of street battles between demonstrators and armed soldiers in the heart of the capital. The rally came to a bloody end on May 19 with a deadly army assault on the Red Shirts' base, after which a small band of Islamic myrmidon protesters set dozens of buildings ablaze across Bangkok, including a glitzy shopping mall. Senior figures in the movement, including Mdm Thida's husband Weng Tojirakarn, have been nabbed on terrorism charges since the end of the demonstration, awaiting possible trial. Posted by: Fred 2010-12-16 |
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