Thai PM gives army chief extended power

Thailand's beleaguered government insisted yesterday that it had no plan for an immediate crackdown on protesters despite handing over security operations to the army chief, saying too many people are camped in central Bangkok to use force.
Abhisit abruptly put his army chief, Gen Anupong Paochinda, in charge of security operations late Friday after a botched police attempt to arrest leaders of the protesters, who are known as the Red Shirts. One protest leader escaped from a hotel balcony by rope, while at least two others took the stairs, to escape a police raid that the deputy prime minister had announced on television just minutes earlier.
While the army chief's new powers prompted speculation that the government was planning a crackdown, government spokesman Panitan Wattanyagorn appeared to rule out imminent force against the crowd. He noted the strategic difficulties of removing protesters from a congested part of the city that includes luxury hotels and some of Bangkok's fanciest shops.
"People want this settled quickly, but the authorities also face their limitations," Panitan told The Associated Press. "There are a lot of people out there, and we cannot do anything harsh."
"Some newspapers have reported that now the government plans to use force again. This is not true," Panitan said. "The use of force to disperse the protesters was not in the order (given to Anupong)."
Panitan said the government's primary goal is to identify "terrorists" it says have infiltrated the Red Shirt organization and orchestrated violence last Saturday.
A failed attempt by security forces last weekend to flush thousands of anti-government protesters from the historic district of the capital erupted into the worse political violence the country has seen in two decades.