Thai Security Agencies To Discuss Thaksin Return

[george]

Thai security agencies to discuss Thaksin return

BANGKOK: -- Thai prime minister Surayud Chulanont said Wednesday that he will discuss former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s request to return to the kingdom with security agencies in a special meeting of the National Security Council on Thursday.

He said the decision whether to permit the ousted premier to return to his homeland will be made by focusing on national security concerns.

Noppadol Patama, legal advisor to the Shinawatra family, told a press conference on Tuesday that Thaksin, who was deposed in the September 19 military coup d’etat and is now in self-imposed exile in Beijing, wished to return to his homeland to defend himself and his family against allegations and rulings of corruption.

His move was prompted by the report of the Assets Examination Committee which found grounds to believe that the ousted premier was involved in the two corruption cases.

The first case is related to the procurement of the baggage handling system and 26 CTX 9000 bomb scanners for Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi airport.

Another case in which the assets probe panel found Thaksin guilty is the land purchase in which his wife Pojaman won a Bt772 million tract of land in central Bangkok from the Bank of Thailand's Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) through a bidding process that was allegedly manipulated to benefit her while her husband was in power as prime minister.

Gen. Surayud said he had no advance details to share with regard to both allegations against Mr. Thaksin and his stated intention to return to the kingdom so the issue will be discussed in the meeting of security agencies on Thursday which he himself will chair.

In response to Mr. Thaksin’s claims that he and his family had been alleged out of spite without recourse to justice for the past three months since he was forceably removed from office, Gen. Surayud said he believed the assets probe panel had done everything in accord with the rule of law. The court will judge whether it is just or unjust, he said.

However, the prime minister said, the meeting itself will not make the final decision whether to allow Mr. Thaksin’s return but will only raise the security as the key factor for considering the issue.

--TNA 2006-12-27