Thailand - crackdown on protest Arrest warrant issued for Thaksin after Red Shirt protesters leave Bangkok

Red-shirted anti-government protesters have left the scene of their three-week sit-in in Bangkok, as the government threatens a clampdown on their leaders. An arrest warrant has been issued for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shiniawattra and troops have moved into the area in front of Government House and shipped demonstrators out of the area in buses.

lashes with local people at the end of a stormy Monday left two Bangkok residents dead and 123 people injured, 50 of whom are in hospital, according to the Public Health Ministry. Protesters torched a bus at the barricades near Government House and set fires before leaving.

Cabinet Minister Satit Wonghnongtaey said that three residents had been shot by protesters loyal to ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and that one 54-year-old had died in hospital.

An official at the privately-run Hua Chiew Hospital near the clash site said that a 19-year-old man had also been killed.

Officials announced Tuesday that an arrest warrant has been issued for Thaksin, although he is living in exile.

In an interview on CNN television, Thaksin accused the government of convering up deaths and claimed that soldiers had killed many people.

And an army spokesperson said that soldiers fired live rounds overhead during the offensive to "terrify" protesters, but only blanks were used in close-range encounters.

Left-wing academic Ji Ungpakhorn, who has fled the country following lèse-majesté charges, slammed the Abhisit Vejajjiva government, declaring that firing on demonstrators is "not 'restraint' nor "the application of the Rule of Law',” in a blog.

Ungpakhorn told RFI that the government is inflaming the crisis with their actions and makes them appear to be "butchers".

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