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Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has offered to hold talks
with ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
The offer came as thousands of Thaksin supporters rallied in the
capital, Bangkok, amid a security crackdown.
But organisers cancelled a march to military headquarters as
protest groups and security officials accused each other of
provoking violence.
On Friday, Mr Thaksin called for fresh elections and vowed to
clear his name, in a video shown in Bangkok.
Thaksin supporters have rallied nightly for two weeks since his
party was banned in May.
'Ready to negotiate'
In his weekly radio and television address, Mr Surayud said he
was ready to negotiate with Mr Thaksin on "every issue where we
have problems".
"I have been ready for nine months," he said. "If we can
negotiate, it would be of the utmost benefit, but we haven't done
it."
Thailand's military government says it will hold elections in
December
About 10,000 people joined Saturday's peace rally at a park
near Bangkok's royal palace, Thai police said. Protest organisers
said 50,000 people attended.
Protesters chanted "Fight, Thaksin, fight" under a giant banner
reading "Democracy now".
More than 10,000 police were mobilised for the protest, with
another 13,000 soldiers on standby, officials said.
Thousands had also been expected to join the march to army
headquarters.
There were conflicting reports as to why the march was
cancelled, but one protest organiser told the Associated Press news
agency there were fears the military would provoke clashes as an
excuse to arrest protesters.
"We decided not to march tonight because we are afraid that we
will fall into a trap," Jakrapob Penkair said.
Other reports said the march was cancelled due to poor
weather.
'Return to democracy'
In his video address on Friday, aired to a crowd of at least
13,000 supporters in Bangkok, Mr Thaksin called for the election
process to be sped up and urged a return to democracy. Mr Thaksin
recorded the address in London, where he now lives.
The military government has said it plans to hold elections this
December.
Mr Thaksin was ousted in a bloodless coup last year.
In May, a court ordered his Thai Rak Thai party be dissolved
because of electoral violations.
This week, the committee set up to examine corruption claims
against Mr Thaksin said it had concluded that he had "committed
wrongdoings".
It issued two orders freezing his assets, including 21 accounts
holding money made from the controversial sale in January 2006 of
Shin Corp, his telecoms giant, to a Singaporean firm.
Source: BBC
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