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Thai PM lifts emergency as new protest looms

AFP, Bangkok
Thai Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva Friday lifted a state of emergency imposed in Bangkok after violent protests, but said troops would remain deployed amid opposition plans to take to the streets again.
Abhisit said he had ended 12 days of emergency rule both to show the world that the troubled kingdom was stable and also to foster reconciliation with supporters of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
"We will send a signal to the international community that normalcy has been restored," Abhisit said at his offices in Bangkok's Government House, which were at the epicentre of the protests by the pro-Thaksin "RedShirts".
He declared an emergency in the capital and five surrounding provinces on April 12, a day after demonstrators forced tne cancellation of a summit of Asian leaders in the coastal city of Pattaya.
fivo people were killed and 123 injured as protesters fought running battles with troops across Bangkok for two days, before finally dispersing on April 14 in the face of a threatened military crackdown.
Tensions also rose a week ago after an assassination attempt in Bangkok on the founder of the anti-Thaksin "Yellow Shirts" movement, Sondhi Limthongkul, who led a crippling blockade of the capital's airports last year.
Abhisit said he was confident the international community would accept that it was "crucial to maintain troops" in areas where there was still public concern and where police were overstretched.
"Foreigners will understand as they closely monitor the rallies, 'ne said.
Thailand's image as a "Land of Smiles" for tourists has taken a major hit from the recent disturbances, with flag carrier Thai Airways reportedly suffering a 20 percent drop in bookings since the emergency was imposed.
The Red Shirts announced soon after the emergency was lifted that they would rally on Saturday at a central Bangkok Kark, instead of at a venue they ad initially planned outside the capital.
They said they would demand the release of Red Shirt leaders held under emergency laws and the reopening of the movement's radio station, but unlike earlier Bangkok rallies there would be nophone in from Thaksin himself.
During a parliamentary debate overnight, Abhisit had said he would lift the emergency as part of wider efforts to end the years of political turmoil since Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
The Red Shirts want Abhisit to quit and call elections, saying that the Democrat Party leader came to power unfairly in December after a court toppled Thaksin's allies from power.