Thai anti-Thaksin leader wounded in attack

The Thai activist who led a blockade of the kingdom's main airports last year was shot in the head Friday in an assassination attempt the government said was aimed at inciting fresh unrest.

Doctors said that Sondhi Limthongkul, founder of the "Yellow Shirts" royalist movement that helped topple former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was in a serious condition and in surgery to remove a bullet from his skull.

Gunmen wielding automatic weapons fired about 100 rounds at the car in a dawn attack, injuring Sondhi as well as his driver and aide, a local police commander told AFP.

The attack will heighten tensions between Sondhi's Yellow Shirts and Thaksin's rival "Red Shirts," who took to the streets of Bangkok this week in violent battles with security forces.

The ambush took place as Sondhi, the leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy PAD which mounted a nine-day seizure of Bangkok's two airports last year, was on his way to record a programme for his private television station.

"At least two attackers followed Sondhi's car, overtook it and sprayed it with about 100 rounds of gunfire from AK-47 and M-16s," said the police commander, Colonel King Kwaengwisatchaicharn.

"The motive for the attack is still under investigation," he said.

Hospital authorities said that Sondhi was conscious and talking when he arrived for treatment.

"He has a bullet inside his skull at the right temple. It will take some time because it is brain surgery," said Chaiwan Charoenchoketavee, director at Vajira Medical College.

"His condition is serious but he will be safe. Do not worry," he told AFP.

News websites showed pictures of Sondhi standing in front of his car, his white shirt covered in blood, and later lying conscious on a hospital stretcher with a pad held to the small wound on his temple.

Police said that Sondhi's driver was in a serious condition, while an aide suffered minor injuries.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the attack was an attempt to create fresh troubles in Thailand, where Red Shirts protests left at least two dead and 123 injured before being shut down by security forces Tuesday.

"There have been attempts to assassinate Sondhi as well as the government, including the prime minister and other leading figures, from time to time. Thus this is not new," Panitan told AFP.

"But this time the act took place while the state of emergency is still in effect. It was an attempt to create unrest," he said. Bangkok and surrounding areas remain under a state of emergency declared on Sunday.

"This incident may affect confidence a bit among citizens and foreigners but overall the unrest is over," Panitan said.

Thailand has been beset by nearly three years of political turmoil, with mass protests wreaking havoc with daily life and occasionally erupting into violence.

Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon, is currently living in exile to escape a jail term for corruption.



Dancers from Ensemble of the Turkish state opera and ballet perform the play "Rose Garden" during the Skopje Dance Festival. AFP/Robert Atanasovski

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