Thai military rulers deny rumours of another coup

Bangkok, June 14 (UNI) Thailand's military rulers today dismissed rumours that another coup d'etat was in the making and assured the country that there was no reason to declare emergency in the capital city.

The statements by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and Army Chief Sonthi Boonyartkalin, who led last September's military coup, revived jittery stock markets which had fallen sharply yesterday.

Bangkok was abuzz with speculation yesterday about an impending curfew and military coup to counter the growing mass demonstrations organized by pro-democracy groups and supporters of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Asking people not to believe in rumours, Mr Surayud advised them to get information from the state media.

An air of political anxiety hangs over the Thai capital since some 10,000 opponents of the military takeover marched last weekend to army headquarters to demand the end of army rule.

From the past few months, some prominent members of Mr Thaksin's former ruling party had been organizing weekend protest rallies at the historic Sanam Luang public ground in the city.

The rallies swelled since the May 30 Constitution Tribunal ruling disbanded the ousted leader's Thai Rak Thai party. Several pro-democracy groups opposed to the military rule also joined the everyday rallies although they insisted on not being the supporters of Mr Thaksin.

The rally organizers have threatened to march with 50,000 people to army headquarters this weekend to demand the restoration of democracy.

Independent political commentators noted that there might be a strong surge in the anti-government sentiment after this week's freeze of the personal wealth of Mr Thaksin, one of the country's richest persons, on corruption charges.

UNI