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BANGKOK: Thai anti-government protesters besieging Government House expelled about 1,000 police from the compound early Friday, testing the prime minister's promise to end the rally peacefully.
More than 13,000 protesters remained barricaded in at Government House Friday morning, forming human shields to protect their leaders from arrest in an effort to cripple Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's administration and force him from office.
Amorn Amornattananon, one of the leaders of the so-called People's Alliance for Democracy now wanted on charges of treason, said they expelled about 1,000 police from the compound at 1:00 am Friday.
"PAD will take total responsibility for security at Government House so we have asked all police to handover to us," Amorn told protesters at the rally site.
Police announced they would meet to plan an immediate response.
"There are no longer any police inside and senior police will today meet to respond to this action," Lieutenant General Panu Kerdlarphol told AFP.
The prime minister, who has pledged to stay in power, said prior to their expulsion that he had put the police firmly in charge but instructed them not to forcibly disperse the crowd to avoid bloodshed.
"There will be no showdown," Samak vowed to reporters on Thursday, despite the PAD's insistence they would at least "stay until Sunday."
The courts have ordered the protesters to leave Government House immediately and issued arrest warrants for nine of the ringleaders on charges including treason, but PAD leaders have appealed to the courts on both counts.
Suriyasai Katasila, a PAD spokesman, told the crowd late Thursday that it would appeal against the warrants "because of the over-the-top charges, especially the charge of treason."
His ally, Sawit Kaoewan, later announced the group would broaden its attack by holding national strikes across the railways and other state enterprises.
The PAD - which despite its name is trying to bring down Samak's elected government - began its campaign at the end of May, just over three months after the coalition government was formed.
PAD leaders say Samak is a figurehead running the country on behalf of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, is barred from holding office and now lives in exile in Britain.
Protesters at the besieged government compound began to erect a second stage on Friday morning, in a further sign of their resolve to stay.
More than 13,000 people stayed for the third night of the protest, camped out with makeshift washing lines alongside barriers of tyres and barbed wire.
PAD protests helped lead to the coup that unseated Thaksin, and the entry into government of his ally Samak has infuriated the country's old power elites in the military and palace.
They also object to Samak's plans to amend a constitution drafted and approved under military rule following the coup.
The current crisis began Tuesday when up to 35,000 anti-government demonstrators stormed a state-run TV station and surrounded at least three ministries before invading the grounds of Government House.
A poll Wednesday showed the majority of Bangkok residents were fed up with the protesters claiming loyalty to the revered monarchy, while the local press has praised Samak's handling of the crisis.
- AFP/yb
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