Thai govt rules out talks unless Reds end rally

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Advocate Abdul Mannan Khan, state minister for Housing and Public Works, Engr Md Nurul Huda, Chairman of RAJUK, among others, seen at a seminar on 'Strengthening Regional Planning and Governance to Support the Land Development and Real Estate Sector of B

BANGKOK, May 18 (AFP): The Thai government Tuesday ruled out negotiating with 'Red Shirt' demonstrators until they end their crippling Bangkok protest, after the protesters agreed to crisis talks mediated by senators.
Five days of clashes with troops have left 38 dead and reduced parts of Bangkok to battle zones, with smoke billowing from piles of tyres set ablaze by demonstrators 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 organised 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.
But cabinet minister Satit Wonghnongtaey said in a nationally televised news conference that there could only be negotiations and a resolution "when demonstrators disperse".
Two previous rounds of negotiations have collapsed "due to interference from people overseas," he said, in an apparent reference to fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The government has accused Thaksin, who lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption, of undermining reconciliation efforts and funding the Reds' campaign.
Underlining the mistrust between the two sides, the deputy premier in charge of security affairs, Suthep Thaugsuban, dismissed as "nonsense" a separate Reds' offer of a ceasefire.
The Reds, who are campaigning for elections to replace the administration of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, have defied a Monday deadline to disperse from the upscale shopping district which they have occupied for two months.
A police spokesman said there were still around 5,000 protesters, including hundreds of women and children, at the fortified rally site and that large crowds have also gathered at three other locations in the city.