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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai Government Won't Call Early Polls After Twin Bombings |
| 2004-10-29 |
| Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government refused to call early elections after two bombs exploded within 90 minutes in the south amid escalating the violence in the Muslim-dominated region. The bombings followed 12 hours after another blast in the same region that killed two people and injured 20 others, Agence France-Presse said. Opposition parties have demanded Thaksin resign for his handling of problems in the south, where at least 78 people suffocated to death Oct. 25 while crammed into military trucks headed for an army camp after clashes between Muslims and troops. ``There might be more bombs here and there, but this will not destroy Thailand. We still have strong fundamentals,'' Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said in Bangkok. ``There won't be a dissolution,'' he told reporters after the speech. Thaksin said his government was ``sorry'' about the deaths, which escalated violence in the three southern-most provinces. A Malaysian tourist was killed in a blast in Narathiwat province's Sungai Kolok district yesterday, the Bangkok Post said. Today's twin bomb blasts, in Yala province, injured at least 14 people, AFP reported. The first explosion today occurred at 8:15 a.m., injuring seven people, and the second blast injured seven police officers probing the earlier bombing, AFP said. Yala, located 1,084 kilometers (673 miles) south of Bangkok, borders Malaysia. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, urged Thailand ``to conduct a swift and independent investigation into each death, to refrain from excessive use of force and from the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,'' AFP reported. Thaksin has started an inquiry by government officials. He defended the action of his officers, blaming fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and drug use among protesters for the high death toll on Oct. 25. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |