Triple tension

Anti- and pro-government groups appear to be on a collision course, with the possibility of violent clashes in Bangkok when the verdict in the Ratchadaphisek land case against Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife is handed down tomorrow.

A highly placed source at the Special Branch Police office said police received information that three different groups will mobilise their supporters in Bangkok over the next few days.

The groups are the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and a group of police supporters.

The PAD plans to hold a rally outside CentralWorld Plaza in Ratchaprasong today and distribute VCDs and documents about the government's crackdown on its supporters on Oct 7 and will then march to police headquarters.

The PAD also plans to gather at the Supreme Court tomorrow to hear the verdict in the Ratchadaphisek land case in which former prime minister Thaksin and his wife, Khunying Potjaman, are the defendants.

UDD supporters and several progovernment movements from the Northeast and the North also plan to gather at the Supreme Court tomorrow to hear the verdict, the source said.

A source at the Supreme Court said clashes between supporters and opponents of Mr Thaksin outside the court are a strong possibility unless measures are taken to control the crowds.

On Wednesday, a mass merit-making ceremony will be held at the Royal Plaza, organised by former deputy police chief Salang Bunnag.

Many retired and serving police officers are expected to take part in the ceremony.

Pol Gen Salang had earlier announced he would mobilise police and force the PAD's supporters out of the Government House grounds.

Suriyasai Katasila, a PAD coordinator, said his alliance is considering canceling its rallies in Bangkok to avoid any clashes with pro-government groups.

"We've been informed that the UDD is preparing to hold a rally near our rally sites," he said.

"We're worried that there could be a confrontation with UDD supporters if we go ahead with our rallies."

He also said the PAD would not accept any new government formed by the ruling People Power party should Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat step down.

He conceded that the PAD wants the military to seize power and return it to civil society and respected parties to form an interim government.

"I don't want to see another coup, but will accept it if it leads to political change by the people," he said.

A 59-year-old PAD supporter died in hospital yesterday after collapsing at Government House.

Somlert Kasemsukprakarn was waiting to have a medical check at a PAD medical unit at Government House when he collapsed. He was rushed to Vajira Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Doctors said he had a history of heart problems.

source bangkok post

North Korea invites US nuclear inspectors back

North Korea allowed international inspectors back into its nuclear facilities Monday, two days after the United States struck the country from its terrorism blacklist, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

In addition, the reclusive Stalinist state said it would resume disabling the Yongbyong nuclear complex on Tuesday by continuing to remove nuclear fuel from its reactor, the Vienna-based agency said in a document distributed to its member states.

The development came after the US State Department announced Saturday that North Korea had agreed to allow rigorous inspections of all its nuclear activities, with Washington responding by removing the Stalinist state from a list of sponsors of terrorism.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang had stopped IAEA inspectors from monitoring its plutonium reprocessing plant, prompting a stalemate after North Korea refused to agree to a mechanism for verifying the details of all of its nuclear activities until Washington removed the country from its state sponsors of terrorism list.

Last Thursday, the IAEA was banned from all nuclear facilities.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea today granted the Agency access to the 5 megawatt experimental nuclear power plant, the nuclear fuel fabrication plant and the reprocessing facility at Yongbyon," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.

Inspectors will also be able to reinstall seals and cameras in the plutonium reprocessing facility to ensure it remains shut down, IAEA members were informed.

IAEA experts are stationed permanently in Yongbyon to monitor the freeze of the complex that North Korea has agreed to in six-party talks with the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, in exchange for improved diplomatic and economic relations, including energy and humanitarian aid.

The nuclear agency had not been briefed yet on the nuclear verification measures agreed to by the US and North Korea, including a possible role of the IAEA in the process, Fleming said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed North Korea's decision to accept the verification measures and called on its government to completely disable its plutonium processing facility.

The facility was used to produce plutonium for North Korea's nuclear explosion test in 2006.

source bangkok post