By DPA,
Bangkok : A televised broadcast of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was cut off for several minutes Sunday by suspected saboteurs, the prime minister said.
The broadcast of Abhisit and Army Commander-in-Chief General Anupong Paochinda was taped Saturday to explain the government’s stance on a protest movement that has seized the centre of Bangkok and led to 26 deaths.
Minutes into the show on the government-run National Broadcasting Television, the signal went dead for more than 10 minutes, leaving viewers in the dark, before the broadcast resumed.
“This morning there was tampering with the signal,” Abhisit said in a brief live announcement afterwards. “We are investigating who was responsible for the incident.”
The embattled prime minister had included General Anupong on his weekly talk show to demonstrate that the government and the military were cooperating in their efforts to end the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) protest, which has dragged on for six weeks and closed off large sections of the city to traffic and business.
An effort to clear the UDD protesters from a bridge in the old part of Bangkok April 10 led to a violent clash between troops and demonstrators that left 20 civilians and five soldiers dead, and over 840 others wounded.
The centre of the demonstrations has since moved to Ratchaprasong intersection, at the heart of Bangkok’s commercial district.
Grenade attacks on Silom Road, the city’s main financial district just south of Ratchaprasong, Thursday killed one person and wounded 88 others, including two foreign tourists.
The UDD is demanding that Abhisit dissolve parliament and hold new elections.
Abhisit has refused to meet their demands, claiming a dissolution will not solve Thailand’s deep political problems.