Coup leaders say military control temporary

Bangkok, Sep 20: The leaders of Thailand's bloodless coup, that ousted caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have assured the public that their action was temporary and to facilitate political reform.

''The council has no intention to run the country by ourselves and will return power under the constitutional monarchy to the people as soon as possible,'' Thai army chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin promised in a televised address flanked by four other leaders of the Political Reform Council that seized power in a bloodless take-over last night.

The Council has delcared a national holiday today and appointed country's four regional army chiefs as executive heads of their regions with power over civil servants.

The coup leaders have called a meeting of top bureaucrats, business leaders and diplomats based in Bangkok today to explain the situation and give them future directions.

Mr Thaksin cancelled a speech to the United Nations General Assembly scheduled early this morning and will leave for an undisclosed location, Reuters reported. Earlier, Mr Thaksin, declared a state of emergency from New York in the Thai capital amid spreading rumours of a military coup against him.

Thai defence forces seized power from caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last night and set up an administrative council to rule on behalf of the country's revered monarch.

In an announcement on state-run television stations, a spokesman for the new authorities said the take-over had become necessary because of the worsening political crisis which had gripped Thailand for the past six months.

The announcement, in Thai, said this was a 'first of its kind' coup in Thailand and its aim was to bring about political reform.

Army tanks were seen moving near government house though armed forces, earlier, insisted that the troop movement was part of a pre-planned routine relocation.

Thailand has been in the grip of political uncertainty ever since the Constitution Court annulled the April 2 snap poll which was boycotted by the main opposition parties.

A re-run of the snap poll was expected sometime in November this year.

In recent months, there have been several rumours of military coups, though these were routinely denied by the armed forces chief.

This is the first military seizure of power in the past 15 years.

Thailand has faced more than a dozen military coups since the establishment of a constitutional monarchy over seven decades ago.

The country has had over 15 Constitutions, with the current charter enacted in 1997 being the first to be formulated in a genuine participatory democratic exercise.

The United States urged a peaceful and democratic resolution to the political situation but did not take sides.

UNI