World

BANGKOK — A Thai anti-government protest leader was shot dead on Sunday as demonstrators besieged polling stations in Bangkok and forced most to close, hampering advance voting for next weekend’s disputed election.

More than two million people are registered for advance voting before the February 2 election, which was called by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to try to defuse rising political tensions after weeks of mass anti-government protests.

Protesters descended on scores of polling stations in the Thai capital and several southern provinces, stopping ballot officials from entering and prompting election authorities to shut at least 45 venues.

As the disrupted polls closed on Sunday afternoon a leader of the anti-government rallies was gunned down while he gave a speech from the back of pick-up truck in a Bangkok suburb.

Nine other people were injured in the shooting, according to the city’s Erawan emergency centre, with the violence deepening doubts over the viability of next weekend’s ballot.

“The government has failed to provide any safety and security for anybody today despite the emergency decree,” protest spokesman Akanat Promphan told AFP, referring to a government order empowering police to control protests.

Akanat accused a “pro-government mob” of carrying out the attack which killed Suthin Tharathin — a leader of the Dharma Army, a Buddhist organisation which has been prominent in the demonstrations.

Each side in the bitterly divided kingdom routinely blames the other for the violence.

Suthin was the 10th person to be killed during nearly three months of rallies that have sparked international concern and investor fears over the country’s economy.

Pressure to delay poll

Sunday’s blockade of polls denied the franchise to thousands of registered voters and flouted the government-imposed state of emergency.

“Forty-five polling stations had to be closed out of 50 in Bangkok,” said Surapong Tovichakchaikul, deputy prime minister and one of the main figures at the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order, which is handling the crisis.

Away from the capital voting went ahead in 66 of the country’s 76 provinces, including the ruling party’s heartlands in the north and northeast, he said.

Yingluck, who has so far refused to resign or delay the poll, is set to meet elections officials on Tuesday after the constitutional court ruled that the general election could legally be delayed because of the crisis.

While the protest augurs badly for next weekend’s general election, Yingluck is likely to press on with the ballot regardless, according to Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Japan’s Kyoto University.

“I don’t think it will increase pressure on her to postpone it... she wants to boost her government’s legitimacy with a quick election,” Pavin added.

The demonstrators, who have staged a near two-week “shutdown” of Bangkok to try to derail the vote, have rejected the election.

They had insisted they would not obstruct advance voters, although analysts have questioned whether the disruption is tantamount to intimidation of the electorate.

Advance voting is routinely offered for those who cannot cast their ballot on polling day. But Sunday’s exercise was seen as a test of the prospects of holding next weekend’s vote peacefully.

Deep divisions

Demonstrators want to topple Yingluck’s elected government and install an unelected “people’s council” to implement loosely defined reforms which they hope will rid Thailand of the influence of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra — Yingluck’s older brother.

They say another poll victory for the ruling party will further embed the Shinawatra clan in Thai politics.

At a polling station in the capital around a dozen frustrated voters said the poll closure amounted to an assault on their democratic freedoms.

“I came to protect my rights,” said 75-year-old Vipa Yoteepitak.

“We can’t let this happen, if we don’t fight today [to vote], we will keep losing our rights.”

Thais have been left divided by years of political turmoil that began shortly before Thaksin was deposed in a military coup in 2006.

The crisis roughly pits Thaksin’s supporters from rural and urbanised communities in the north and northeast against his foes within the country’s elite, the Bangkok middle classes and parts of the south.

The billionaire tycoon-turned-politician — who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption that he says was politically motivated — has won every election since 2001 either directly or more recently through allied parties.

But his opponents accuse him of corruption, “vote buying” and pushing through expensive populist policies to strengthen his electoral position.

PARIS — French President Francois Hollande on Saturday told AFP he has split with his longstanding partner Valerie Trierweiler after his affair with an actress nearly 20 years his junior.

The announcement came after a day of rumours in the French media that Hollande would formally announce the rupture on Saturday, on the eve of a visit by Trierweiler to India for charity work.

Saying he was speaking as a private individual, Hollande announced: “I wish to make it known that I have ended my partnership with Valerie Trierweiler.”

Trierweiler, 48, remains holed up in a presidential residence in Versailles outside Paris after leaving hospital last Saturday, where she was treated for a bout of “tiredness” brought on by press revelations of Hollande’s affair with 41-year-old actress Julie Gayet.

Trierweiler is due to fly to Mumbai on Sunday for a charity trip organised by French relief organisation Action Against Hunger (ACF), in her first public appearance since the scandal broke.

An ACF spokeswoman told AFP the trip “was confirmed this morning by Ms Trierweiler’s office”.

Hollande, 59, announced his separation from Segolene Royal, a senior member of his Socialist Party and a presidential candidate in 2007, just after she lost the election to Nicolas Sarkozy.

Trierweiler is not married to Hollande but assumed the role of first lady at official functions after Hollande’s election in 2012.

On Saturday, the popular Le Parisien daily carried a story on its website declaring “C’est Fini” (It’s Over), adding that the Elysee Palace would release a statement shortly.

“Hollande, who took the initiative for the separation, wanted to make it official before Valerie Trierweiler’s departure for India,” said the Journal du Dimanche weekly on its website.

Hollande had promised at a mid-January news conference that he would publicly define what relationship, if any, he and Trierweiler had before a February 11 state visit to the United States.

Hollande’s announcement comes after a spat between Trierweiler and her lawyer Frederique Giffard, who said Thursday that her client was aware that a “clarification” on her tangled situation was due.

Giffard remained evasive on the question of whether they would split, saying: “The president and my client are thinking. The decision is theirs alone. It is very difficult for Valerie Trierweiler to remain calm in the face of this media and political pressure. But she is aware that a clarification is necessary.”

But Trierweiler reacted furiously to the lawyer’s remarks and chastened Giffard for speaking without her permission.

Trierweiler is a glamorous, twice-divorced career journalist who has three children of her own and has been Hollande’s partner for the best part of a decade.

She emerged into the spotlight before he was elected president and warned that she would not be a wallflower, saying in April 2012: “I have character, they cannot muzzle me.”

That was quickly proven when Trierweiler tweeted her support in legislative elections for an independent rival of Royal, someone with whom the first lady did not have warm relations.

The tweet went down badly in France and Trierweiler’s reputation suffered, with many deeming her somewhat arrogant.

But she has not commented on the latest scandal since French glossy Closer broke news of Hollande’s affair with Gayet on January 10.

She only tweeted after being released from hospital on January 19 to thank her supporters.

After Hollande’s election, Trierweiler cut down on her work at the French magazine Paris-Match and engaged in charitable activities. 

KUALA LUMPUR — The Philippine government and Muslim rebels said Saturday they had cleared the last hurdle in long-running peace negotiations, paving the way to end a deadly decades-old insurgency in the country’s south.

President Benigno Aquino hopes to secure a final peace settlement before leaving office in mid-2016 to end the rebellion by Muslim groups, which has left 150,000 people dead.

Negotiators of both sides said Saturday marked the conclusion of years of peace talks ahead of the signing of a formal deal to seal their work.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said the deal was expected to be signed “very soon” to pave the way for peace.

“From A to Z it has been full of challenges. But with the cooperation and determination of all parties... I think no obstacles will stand in the way, God willing,” he told reporters.

Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda told AFP that he hoped the deal could be signed as early as next week.

Chief Philippine government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said the conclusion of the latest round Saturday marked the “end of a process, which is the formal negotiations”.

“The peace process... is aimed to really bring about a good foundation for sustainable peace and development in Mindanao [in southern Philippines], and in that sense we consider this a very important development,” Ferrer told reporters.

She added “the bigger challenge of implementation” lay ahead with the target “to substantially complete everything by the end of this administration in 2016”.

Negotiators met from Wednesday on the outskirts of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur to tackle a “normalisation” deal detailing how the rebels will hand over their weapons and the creation of a security force to police what would be a self-ruled Muslim area.

The deal is the last of four power-sharing accords that must be agreed between the government and the MILF, before a final peace deal can be signed.

Neither Ferrer nor Iqbal gave details of how MILF would decommission its 12,000-strong armed forces, with Ferrer saying it would be a “gradual and phased process”. An independent commission will be set up to work out the details, they said.

“For peace, real peace in Mindanao, we have to decommission our forces,” Iqbal said. “There is no element of surrender... The issue of normalisation is the most sensitive and emotional.”

Aquino warned last month that disarming the MILF would be a “heavy and contentious” issue.

Apart from the MILF, many other armed groups operate in the south, including former rebels who have resorted to banditry and terrorism.

The insurgency, which began in the 1970s, has left parts of the southern Philippines mired in deep poverty and instability.

A previous peace agreement in 2008 was struck down by the Philippines’ Supreme Court, which rejected it as unconstitutional, leading to renewed fighting.

MONTREAL — A fire at a Quebec residence for elderly people has killed three people, with 30 more missing, police said Thursday.

The fire at the residence, which housed some 50 to 60 elderly people, broke out shortly after midnight.

The home is located in the small town of L’Isle Verte, which has a population of about 1,400 people.

Authorities said at least nine people were injured, one seriously, and were being treated at nearby hospitals.

The Red Cross created a makeshift shelter at a local school where 16 people rescued from the inferno spent the night, according to a representative, Myriam Marotte, who spoke to local television.

The blaze was fanned by frigid winds, as the eastern section of North America endures a brutal cold snap after being blanketed by snow.

KIEV — Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich called for an emergency session of parliament to end political crisis and violent unrest, in a sign he might be ready to soften his hardline stance and strike a compromise.

Yanukovich was due to hold talks on Thursday with opposition leaders including heavyweight boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, and anti-government demonstrators in the capital agreed to a truce with police until 8:00pm (1800 GMT) pending the outcome.

The parliamentary website said the special session would be held on Tuesday.

Underlining the level of mistrust between the government and opposition, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov accused protesters of trying to stage a coup d’etat, and dismissed the possibility of an early presidential election to resolve the standoff.

“All those who support this coup should say clearly, ‘Yes, we are for the overthrow of the legitimate authorities in Ukraine’, and not hide behind peaceful protesters,” Azarov said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“A genuine attempt at a coup d’etat is being carried out,” Russian news agency Interfax quoted him as saying.

Azarov told Reuters the government had no plans to introduce a state of emergency: “We don’t see the need for tough and extreme measures at the moment... But don’t put the government into an impasse,” he said.

“People should not think that the government lacks available resources to put an end to this. It is our constitutional right and obligation to restore order in the country.”

The protests against Yanukovich began in November, when he pulled out of signing a free trade deal with the European Union in favour of closer economic ties with former Soviet overlord Russia.

The unrest has swollen in recent weeks, and turned violent on Sunday when hard-core radicals broke away from the main protest area in the capital Kiev and clashed violently with riot police.

Three people have been killed on the side of protesters — two of them from gunshot wounds — and more than 150 police have been injured.

Outside the capital, thousands stormed the regional administration headquarters in Rivne in western Ukraine on Thursday, breaking down doors and demanding the release of people detained in the unrest there, UNIAN news agency reported.

Alarm abroad

The turmoil has caused alarm abroad, and on Thursday German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed anger over the Ukraine government’s crackdown on protesters.

“We are greatly worried and not only worried, but also outraged at the way laws have been pushed through that call these freedoms into question,” she told a news conference.

But Merkel added that it would be wrong for Europe to respond to the violence with sanctions at this stage.

French President Francois Hollande called on Ukrainian authorities to “rapidly seek dialogue”.

A European Commission spokesman said Yanukovich had spoken to President Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday and assured him he was ready to maintain political dialogue and saw no need to impose a state of emergency in Ukraine.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev urged the presidents of Russia and the United States to help broker negotiations, and said Ukraine was facing a possible “catastrophe”.

In what could constitute the first signs of a willingness to compromise, Yanukovich told parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Rybak that the “situation must be settled immediately”.

Rybak said the proposed emergency session of parliament could consider the opposition’s call for Azarov’s government to step down.

Rybak added that “questions linked to laws passed by parliament” could be discussed - apparently a reference to sweeping anti-protest laws rammed through parliament last week by Yanukovich loyalists.

Those laws served to boost mass demonstrations on the streets of Kiev at the weekend, and the opposition is demanding they be repealed.

The new round of talks between Yanukovich and Klitschko, former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and far-right nationalist Oleh Tyahnibok had been due to begin at 3:00pm, but were delayed at the last minute.

In an initial round of talks on Wednesday, Yanukovich refused to make any real concessions to opposition leaders’ demands for the dismissal of his government and repeal of the anti-protest laws.

SEOUL — South Korean regulators Wednesday vowed harsh corporate penalties for data theft, as angry customers swamped credit card offices for a third day after 20 million people had their financial information stolen.

“If an incident like this happens again, the company in question will be shut and its executives will no longer be able to work in this industry,” Shin Je-yoon, the head of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), told reporters.

Shin was reacting to South Korea’s largest-ever leak of private financial data that involved three credit card companies and at least 20 million clients — out of a national population of 50 million.

Credit card usage is particularly high in South Korea where the average adult has four or five cards.

The data was stolen by an employee from personal credit ratings firm Korea Credit Bureau who once worked as a temporary consultant at the three firms. He was arrested earlier this month.

The stolen data included names, social security numbers, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, home addresses, credit card numbers and even personal credit ratings.

Angry customers

Since Monday more than two million victims have cancelled their credit cards permanently or requested new ones.

“Now all my personal data is out there, including my home and office addresses and phone numbers and even my annual income and how many times I was behind on credit card payments in the past,” said Grace Choi, a Seoul office worker.

“I’m more than angry. I’ll join a class action suit if there is one,” she said.

Choi was one of hundreds of Lotte Card customers who packed the company’s branch in downtown Seoul to cancel their cards and request new ones.

Most waited for hours, berating harried staff who had been tasked with fielding complaints.

“I came here because their call centres were constantly engaged yesterday,” said Won Jong-hee, a Seoul housewife.

“They say there are some 500 people in line before me and I have to wait seven hours...this is ridiculous,” she said.

All special call centres run by the credit card firms were busy and some of their websites could not be accessed due to heavy traffic.

All three announced extended operating hours and vowed to remain open on weekends to handle cancellations.

Shin said the FSC would devise harsher punishments and heavier financial penalties on companies and their executives for future security breaches.

“For instance, we are thinking of about 5 billion won [$4.6 million] in fines, or even up to 1 per cent of their total sales,” he said.

The companies involved in the latest data leak — KB Kookmin Card, Lotte Card and NH Nonghyup Card — will face “the highest level of punishment legally possible”, he said, suggesting a possible three-month business suspension.

The companies would be banned from accepting new customers and offering cash advance services to existing clients during the suspension.

Shin sought to quell public concerns, saying the stolen data in the latest case had not been resold to a third party.

He also promised that the credit card firms would be forced to make good on a commitment to fully compensate clients for any financial loss resulting from the theft.

Many major South Korean companies have seen customers’ data leaked in recent years, either by hacking attacks or their own employees.

An employee of Citibank Korea was arrested last month for stealing the personal data of 34,000 customers.

In 2012, two South Korean hackers were arrested for stealing the data of 8.7 million customers at the nation’s second-biggest mobile operator.

In November 2011 Seoul’s top games developer Nexon saw the personal information of 13 million users of its popular online game MapleStory stolen by hackers.

In July the same year, personal data from 35 million users of Cyworld — the South’s social networking site — was stolen by hackers.

KIEV — Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich met opposition leaders on Wednesday in an attempt to defuse street violence in which three people were killed overnight, but tension remained high as his prime minister branded anti-government protesters “terrorists”.

The talks, the first concrete move towards negotiating an end to two months of unrest, ended after about three hours. But there was no immediate word from the presidency. Opposition leaders said they would give a report on their talks later to their supporters rallying on central Kiev’s Independence Square.

Two of the dead men perished from bullet wounds, Ukraine’s general prosecutor said, and the third died after plunging from the top of Dynamo football stadium while fighting with police.

They were the first protest-related deaths since the crisis erupted last November after Yanukovich ditched a trade deal with the European Union in favour of financial aid from Soviet-era overlord Russia to prop up Ukraine’s ailing economy.

The protesters, inflamed by news of the deaths, faced off again with riot police, whom they have battled in bloody clashes near the government headquarters since Sunday night.

Though repelled by forays of baton-wielding riot police, they continued to return to the spot, setting ablaze tyres and sending clouds of black smoke wafting into police lines.

Fifty people were detained overnight and 29 of them were officially charged with taking part in mass unrest, police said. A total of 167 police have been injured. There was no word on the number of civilians injured.

‘Against bloodshed’

Before going into the talks with boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and far-right nationalist Oleh Tyahnibok, Yanukovich issued a statement deploring the overnight loss of life.

Urging people not to heed the calls of “political radicals”, Yanukovich said: “I am against bloodshed, against the use of force, against inciting enmity and violence.”

Yanukovich has so far stood firm against opposition demands for the dismissal of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov’s government and the prosecution of the interior minister, whom the protesters hold responsible for heavy-handed police tactics.

The meeting with Yanukovich marked a small victory for the three leaders who had sought his direct participation in talks.

But, with radical protesters slipping out of their control and ignoring their pleas for non-violent action, it seemed unlikely opposition leaders would be satisfied with a repetition of appeals from Yanukovich to rein in the demonstrators.

Taking a tough line that may still foreshadow a big police crackdown, Azarov told a cabinet meeting: “Terrorists from the ‘Maidan’ (Independence Square) seized dozens of people and beat them. I am officially stating that these are criminals who must answer for their action.”

He blamed opposition leaders for inciting “criminal action” by backing the anti-government protests, which he said destabilised Ukraine, a large country of 46 million people.

The Kiev demonstrations turned more violent on Sunday after harsher police tactics and the introduction of sweeping anti-protest legislation which the opposition says paved the way for a police state in the former Soviet republic.

Though hundreds of people continue a peaceful protest in an encampment on Independence Square, a smaller group of hard-core radicals have now effectively hijacked the movement by attacking police with petrol bombs, fireworks and cobblestones. Police have replied with rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas.

Azarov said that police deployed on the streets did not possess firearms and the interior ministry has denied that police have used guns during the crisis.

US revokes visas

In a move underlining Washington’s disapproval of Ukraine’s handling of the protests, the US embassy in Kiev said it had revoked the visas of several Ukrainians linked to police violence against the demonstrators in November and December.

It did not name the officials but said it was considering further action against those responsible for the current violence.

The European Union called on Ukraine’s government and opposition to “engage in a genuine dialogue”.

“I strongly condemn the violent escalation of events in Kiev overnight leading to casualties. The reported deaths of several protesters are a source of extreme worry,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU could also take action against Ukraine after reports of the overnight deaths.

With the opposition calling for a fresh rally on Wednesday, many shops, businesses and bank branches said they were closing early out of fear of more unrest.

Even as Yanukovich and opposition leaders met, black-helmeted riot police launched another operation to push back protesters, using an armoured personnel carrier.

But the police operation stopped well short of Independence Square, crucible of the so-called “Euro-Maidan” protests.

Wednesday’s violence erupted ironically as Ukraine marked ‘National Unification Day’ — the day in 1919 which brought together that part of the country that had been under Russian rule with that which had been in the Austro-Hungarian empire.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Pakistani fighter jets pounded militant positions overnight in the country’s northwest following a Taliban bombing campaign against security forces, military officials and residents said Tuesday. The strikes are likely to hamper the government’s efforts to hold peace talks with the militant group.

Also Tuesday, a roadside car bomb hit a bus of Shiite pilgrims returning from Iran, killing 20 and wounding over 30, in restive Baluchistan province, said a top security official.

There were conflicting claims about who was killed in the airstrikes which took place in North Waziristan, a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban as well as other militant groups.

A military official said the strikes targeted militants and killed 25 of them. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

But at least two residents reached by telephone in North Waziristan said civilians were among those killed in the airstrikes. They said many residents slept in the open out of fear their homes might be hit.

“How would the jet fighters know who is living where and who is a militant and who is a civilian in the dark of the night,” said Habib Dawar who lives in Mir Ali, one of the main towns in North Waziristan.

The area where airstrikes occurred is remote and dangerous for journalists to access, making it impossible to independently verify the conflicting casualty claims.

The overnight strikes came after two days of attacks claimed by the Pakistani Taliban that killed 34 security personnel. On Sunday, a bomb planted in a vehicle killed 26 troops inside an army compound in the northwest just before their convoy was to head into North Waziristan. Then on Monday, a suicide bomber killed 13 people including eight security personnel in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad.

The violence has put pressure on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to show he’s doing something to address the violence that has plagued Pakistan for years. Sharif has repeatedly expressed his desire to negotiate with militants instead of using military force to subdue them, but so far the Pakistani Taliban have shown little desire to negotiate with Sharif’s government.

The Pakistani military in recent years has carried out several offensives against the Pakistani Taliban in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. But airstrikes like the ones hitting North Waziristan late Monday and Tuesday morning are considered rare for that area.

Pakistani intelligence officials say the strike killed at least five fighters in the village of Hamzoni, while four others were killed in a nearby Tappi village. They said 13 people killed in a mosque near the town of Mir Ali were believed to be Uzbek fighters.

The officials said that Adnan Rasheed, a top commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban, which is the formal name of the Pakistani Taliban, narrowly escaped one of the strikes. The intelligence officials also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

But angry residents insisted that civilians were also among the dead. One resident, Yar Mohamad, said women and children were among those killed.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Shahidullah Shahid, warned that they would be compelled to target the families of government and army officials if the authorities continued such strikes. He said no Taliban fighters were killed in the strikes.

Meanwhile, Baluchistan’s top security official Asad Gilani said a roadside car bomb hit a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims killing 20 people, including women, children and four paramilitary troops. He said the troops were escorting the Shiites’ convoy. He said 31, including women, children and members of the security forces, were wounded by the bomb and subsequent fire.

Police officer Mohammad Aslam says the bomber detonated explosives planted in a car along the road when the convoy of buses passed by in the Dren Garh area of Mastung district. Dren Garh is some 60 kilometers west of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

Blame is likely to fall on Islamist militants, some of whom consider Shiites heretics and have claimed attacks on the sect in the past. Ethnic nationalist insurgents also operate in Baluchistan.

BANGKOK — Thailand Tuesday declared a 60-day state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas to tackle mass protests aimed at overthrowing the government, but ruled out using force to end the rallies.

The move follows weeks of mass demonstrations that have paralysed parts of the capital and sparked several bouts of deadly violence, including grenade attacks and shootings.

The last time a state of emergency was imposed in Bangkok, to deal with opposition protests against the previous government in 2010, dozens of people were killed in a bloody military crackdown.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said there was no plan to give the army a leading role under the decree, which will come into force from Wednesday.

“That’s why we’re focusing on the police force, to avoid violence like in 2010,” she told reporters. “The authorities will start with negotiations.”

Yingluck is under intense pressure from demonstrators to step down after more than two months of street protests aimed at ousting her elected government and installing an unelected “people’s council”.

They accuse her of being a puppet for her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a controversial tycoon-turned-politician who was ousted as premier in a military coup in 2006 and who lives in Dubai to avoid jail for a corruption conviction.

Yingluck’s supporters have accused the protesters of trying to provoke another coup.

It was not immediately clear how the government would implement the emergency decree, which enables authorities to impose a curfew, ban public gatherings of more than five people, detain suspects for 30 days without charge and censor media.

“We will not use force. We have no policy to disperse them (the protesters) and we haven’t announced a curfew yet,” said Labour Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, who will oversee its implementation.

Yingluck has called an election for February 2 but the main opposition party is boycotting the vote.

‘We will not stop’

The demonstrators have staged a self-styled “shutdown” of Bangkok since January 13, erecting roadblocks and rally stages at several main intersections, although their number has steadily fallen.

A defiant protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban — who faces an insurrection charge in connection with the protests, but has not been detained by police — vowed to keep up the rallies despite the state of emergency.

“We’ve been protesting for almost three months with no weapons and empty hands,” he said. “We will not stop.”

Dozens of people were wounded and one killed in grenade attacks by unknown assailants on opposition rallies on Friday and Sunday.

There have also been violent clashes between police and protesters storming state offices.

“You could see the emergency decree as a sign the government is a bit desperate in trying to control the violence of the last few days,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Japan’s Kyoto University.

He said it was unclear if protesters would respect the new rules.

“It could go either way, but if you believe that they want to incite violence to create the conditions for an intervention (by the military) then they are more likely to try to push things further and defy the emergency decree,” he said.

The kingdom has been periodically rocked by political bloodshed since Thaksin’s overthrow.

The latest protests were triggered by a failed amnesty bill that could have allowed him to return without going to prison.

Thaksin has strong electoral support in northern Thailand thanks to his policies to help the rural poor, but he is reviled by many southerners, middle class and members of the royalist establishment.

Mass rallies by his “Red Shirts” supporters in 2010 sparked street violence that ended in a bloody crackdown by soldiers firing live rounds and backed by armoured vehicles. More than 90 people were killed and nearly 1,900 injured.

Suthep, who was deputy premier at the time, faces a murder charge linked to those deaths, as does the then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The military, traditionally a staunch supporter of the anti-Thaksin establishment, has shown signs of reluctance to play a significant role in handling the current protests, saying it wants to remain neutral.

But the army chief has also refused to rule out another coup.

BRUSSELS — EU foreign ministers Monday urged Ukraine’s government to annul legislation curbing the right to protest and deplored the violence in Kiev sparked by its “repressive package” of measures.

The laws rushed through parliament last week “significantly restrict... Ukrainian citizens’ fundamental rights of association, media and the press”, the ministers said in a statement issued after a regular monthly meeting.

The Kiev government must “ensure that these developments are reversed and that its legislation is brought (into) line with Ukraine’s European and international commitments”, they said.

EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton, who chaired the meeting, said Ukraine had been added to the agenda of the talks as all were “very concerned by the legislation”.

“It is absolutely vital that all sides engage in dialogue,” Ashton told a closing press conference.

Asked about reports that Washington was considering sanctions against Kiev and whether the European Union would take that course, Ashton was guarded in her reply.

“The US has been talking about what efforts it can make to support people in Ukraine,” she noted, while the EU continued to press the government to meet its commitments to its own people.

An offer to Ukraine to sign an “association accord” with the EU — ditched by President Viktor Yanukovych at the last moment in November under Russian pressure which triggerd mass protests — was still open, the foreign ministers noted.

The EU “remains committed to Ukraine’s political association and economic integration” and to signing the agreement “as soon as Ukraine is ready”, the statement said.

In Kiev meanwhile, radical opposition protesters battled police in new clashes after bloody fighting Sunday left more than 200 people hurt.

The clashes, the worst in Kiev in recent times, marked a spiralling of tensions after two months of demonstrations since Yanukovych dropped the EU deal.

A special commission set up by the Ukrainian leader was due to meet representatives of the opposition on Monday for emergency talks but it was unclear if this could help ease the crisis.

Going into their meeting, EU foreign ministers said the Ukrainian government was clearly at fault.

The curbs on protests amounted to the “most solid package of repressive laws that I have seen enacted by a European parliament in decades”, said Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt.

“I think what happened... was a consequence of that package of repression,” he said.

“I absolutely deplore the violence that occurred,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, adding: “I believe it is a mistake to have” introduced the protest restrictions.

The fresh tensions in Ukraine come as the EU prepares for what is expected to be a difficult summit later this month with Russia.

EU ties with Moscow have been fraught, with President Vladmir Putin widely blamed for sinking the EU association pact with Ukraine, a former Soviet state, as part of efforts to undercut Brussels’ influence in Eastern Europe.