Red-shirts protest as Clinton to meet Thai PM |
www.chinaview.cn  2009-07-21 15:41:52 |   Print |
Phuket, Thailand, July 21 (Xinhua) -- A flock of red-shirted protestors began to rally in front of Government House in Bangkok on Tuesday morning and demanded the resignation of two senior cabinet members, as U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is to meet Thai Prime Minister there in the afternoon, Thai media reported.
The anti-government group, United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), demanded Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to step down, Bangkok Post online reported.
The red-clad UDD protestors, usually called "red-shirts", said they will continue their rally until U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton meets Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at Government House at 5 p.m.
Clinton will arrive in Bangkok on Tuesday to meet Abhisit before she flies to the Thai resort island of Phuket to attend the ASEAN Post Ministerial Meeting on Wednesday and 16th ASEAN Regional Forum on July 23.
Suthep was ruled days before by the Election Committee of disqualification as House member for illegal share-holding; and Kasit was charged with involvement in last year's siege of Bangkok airport by then-anti-government group "yellow-shirts".
The red-shirts also demanded political reform, constitutional amendment, and a House dissolution to make way for a general election.
They called for people to sign up for a petition of royal pardon for self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and sentenced in 2008 in absentia by court to 2-year in jail.
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