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BANGKOK: A grenade blast in Bangkok on Friday left one man seriously hurt, prompting a warning from the prime minister of possible further attacks in a city still recovering from a wave of bloodshed.
The grenade, which was in a plastic bag, exploded before dawn on a street in the capital, leaving a rubbish scavenger in critical condition with shrapnel in his head, police and hospital officials said.
"It's likely that the bomb was aimed at inciting unrest," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters.
"The overall assessment and evaluation of the situation is that more bomb attacks are likely at this time," he said.
The blast came less than a week after a small bomb exploded at a Bangkok bus stop, killing one person and injuring 10 in an attack that rekindled tensions in the capital two months after the end of bloody street protests.
The main opposition Puea Thai party accused government supporters of setting off that bomb. No one has been arrested in connection with either of the two explosions.
About 90 people died and some 1,900 were injured in street clashes between armed troops and demonstrators during two months of mass rallies by the anti-government "Red Shirts" that ended with a bloody army crackdown in May.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he believed Friday's blast was politically motivated.
"It's regrettable that the bomber wanted to incite further unrest to show that the government cannot control the situation," he told reporters.
Suthep, who is in charge of security, said he had instructed Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon to deploy police and soldiers to patrol the city streets.
He added that the blast showed the government still needed to maintain emergency rule in Bangkok and 10 other provinces, out of a total of 76.
"Core anti-government leaders are still inciting unrest," he said.
The latest explosion came hours after Abhisit announced he was lifting a state of emergency in six provinces in central and northeast Thailand.
The government has come under pressure from the United States and rights groups to end emergency rule to help the country recover from deadly civil unrest that has left it deeply divided.
Authorities have used the powers - introduced in Bangkok on April 7 - to arrest hundreds of Red Shirt suspects and silence anti-government media.
One top protest leader was released on bail on Friday, more than two months after being detained on terrorism charges.
The Appeals Court agreed to temporarily release the movement's chairman Veera Musikapong after he posted bail of six million baht (about 186,000 dollars), a court official said.
He is banned from travelling outside Bangkok without court permission, from joining gatherings of more than five people - except to meet his relatives - and from talking to media, the official said.
The protests by the Reds, many of whom back fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, attracted up to 100,000 people demanding immediate elections.
Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon, was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a prison term imposed in absentia for corruption.
- AFP/ls/de
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