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BANGKOK - Thai protesters, threatened with an army crackdown, abandoned their three-week rally at the premier's office Tuesday, pulling the kingdom back from a potentially bloody showdown with troops.
A day after street battles in Bangkok left two dead and 123 injured, a show of force by soldiers and police convinced thousands of protesters who had dug in around the offices of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to go home.
Organisers agreed to disperse in a victory for Abhisit, who had appeared on the verge of losing his hold on power after only four months due to the protests, which forced Thailand to cancel a weekend summit of Asian leaders.
"We have stopped the protest but we haven't stopped the fight for democracy. We will continue the movement," said protester Nattwaut Saikuar, a staunch ally of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thailand has been through weeks of chaos as Thaksin supporters, in their trademark red shirts, took to the streets to demand the resignation of Abhisit, whom they say is in office because Thaksin allies were illegally pushed out.
Five key protest leaders reported to police for questioning after the rally broke up. Police and the army said rank-and-file protesters involved in the street violence would not face charges.
The government declared two extra public holidays on Thursday and Friday to extend the three-day Thai New Year festival this week "in order to ensure public security and clean up places affected by the protests."
A state of emergency imposed by Abhisit on Sunday in Bangkok and surrounding areas after protesters forced the cancellation of an Asian summit remains in force, but shopping malls closed down by the violence quickly reopened.
As hundreds of weary demonstrators headed for home, mostly in the country's northeast that is the heartland of Thaksin's support, others defiantly said their campaign to dislodge Abhisit would continue.
The government had said it wanted a peaceful end to the crisis, after troops Monday used tear gas and automatic weapons fire to clear demonstrators from the rest of Bangkok.
Then hundreds of soldiers brandishing assault rifles and riot shields advanced on Government House as dawn broke on Tuesday, and armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles blocked off all access points.
The military used loudspeakers mounted on trucks to issued further warnings for the protesters to disperse or face the consequences.
The number of protesters at Government House, site of Abhisit's offices, had fallen to around 2,500 overnight as the pressure mounted on Thaksin's so-called "Red Shirts".
Army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said troops had also suppressed protests in three provinces on Monday, during which demonstrators took control of a television station and a railway terminal.
Abhisit was under huge pressure to end the crisis quickly to prevent further damage to Thailand's international image, after years of unrest following the military coup that ousted Thaksin in 2006.
Several countries advised tourists not to travel to Thailand or to exercise caution if already there, while the US State Department condemned the "unacceptable violence" by the protesters.
Bangkok emergency services said Tuesday that the toll from clashes between security forces, demonstrators and local residents stood at two dead and 123 wounded, 44 of whom were still in hospital.
On Monday, troops unleashed volleys of gunfire and hurled tear gas at the protesters, who sent buses hurtling towards lines of soldiers and torched a government ministry with petrol bombs.
The protesters were forced to retreat to Government House, where as night fell residents erected roadblocks and armed themselves with guns and swords, setting the stage for a deadly confrontation with the Red Shirts.
Analysts say there is little hope of a long-term solution to Thailand's problems so long as it remains divided between Thaksin's mostly poor supporters and his foes in the power circles of the palace, military and bureaucracy.
- AFP/ir
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