Britain says not seeking Thaksin's restoration

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 20 (Reuters) Britain said today it was not seeking the restoration of deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his decision to travel to London had no political significance.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told reporters that Britain regretted the bloodless military coup that ousted Thaksin yesterday and hoped that early elections planned for October would go ahead as scheduled.

''It's not for us to say that he should be reinstalled. We have called for a return to democratic government,'' she said.

Asked why Thaksin had chosen to fly to London from New York, where he was attending the United Nations General Assembly, Beckett said she believed he had an apartment in the British capital.

''There's no significance at all to his going to London,'' she added.

REUTERS MIR VC2323