04/12/2013 09:50
Tensions ease in Thailand as police remove barriers
Tensions eased in Thailand on Tuesday as police took down barricades in the capital and allowed anti-government demonstrators to enter the compounds of government buildings, CNN reported.
The Thai government said it had negotiated a truce with protesters for the next several days to honor the birthday of the country's deeply revered King. But the leader of the protests said the fight against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her exiled brother would continue.
Lt. Gen. Paradon Patthanathabut of the National Security Council said that thousands of protesters were allowed to enter the compound of Government House, the headquarters of Yingluck's administration and a key target of demonstrations in recent days.
Police also took down barriers in front of their metropolitan office Tuesday morning and allowed anti-government demonstrators to walk toward the building.
Paradon said Tuesday that the government and protesters had "mutually agreed to back down for the sake of our great father, our King." The world's longest-serving monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, turns 86 on Thursday.
But Suthep Thaugsuban, who has led the demonstrations against Yingluck's government in pockets of central Bangkok in recent weeks, said the campaign wasn't over.
"We will continue fighting until Thaksin's regime is definitively wiped out," he said, referring to Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled former Prime Minister and brother of Yingluck who is considered to retain considerable influence in Thailand.
The secretary general to the Prime Minister said the demonstrators are calling for unconstitutional changes in the government.
"The prime minister, she has clearly stated that she doesn't want to be the cause of conflict, she doesn't want to be the cause that leads to violence and bloodshed," said Suranand Vejjajiva. "The proposals of the protesters are undemocratic and unconstitutional. ... What they are trying to do is topple a democratically elected government, which is totally unacceptable by international standards."