Bangkok, May 19
Riots and fires swept Bangkok today after troops stormed a protest encampment, forcing anti-government protest leaders to give up but triggering clashes that killed at least six and sparked unrest in Thailand’s north.

The Thai government extended an overnight curfew in Bangkok to 24 provinces as unrest spread from the capital to seven provinces, with town halls burnt in three northern areas, strongholds of anti-government protesters.

Red Shirt protesters earlier torched at least 27 buildings in the capital, including the Thai stock exchange, and at least 16 bank branches. Central World, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest department store complex, was gutted by fire and looked like it may collapse, a witness said.

The unrest is now the “most widespread and most uncontrollable” political violence Thailand has ever seen, said Charnvit Kasetsiri, a prominent political historian.

“I am confident and determined to end the problems and return the country to peace and order once again,” Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a televised address tonight.

It was unclear whether the continued rioting, after protest leaders surrendered, was a final outpouring by anti-government forces or the start of more intense, widespread fighting.

Travellers heading overseas or returning to Thailand during the curfew will need to show their passports to security forces to get through checkpoints.

A news blackout was imposed, with local TV running programmes of dancing and flag-waving Thais, periodically interrupting them for government statements.

“It's going to be hard to quell this, and tonight is going to be very ominous with the media taken off air and the curfew in place. There will be chaos and a widespread crackdown can be expected,” said Charnvit.

Thailand’s Stock Exchange, which closed early on Wednesday, will stay closed on Thursday and Friday, along with the city’s banks.

“For investors, it is going to take years to bring credibility back to the country. The market fundamentals are just not the same any more,” said Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, head of Asia Plus Securities.

The Red Shirts accuse the British-born, Oxford-educated Abhisit of lacking a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote in 2008, with tacit backing from the military. They have demanded immediate elections.

“It would be suicide to launch an election in this environment,” Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told the BBC, adding an end-of-year poll may still be possible. — Reuters

Dubai, May 19
A Sharjah court, which recently sentenced 17 Indians to death for killing a Pakistani man, today adjourned the case to June 16 after allowing them to have access to a Punjabi translator.

"They were asked to either plead guilty or innocent but the convicts said they don’t understand any language other than Punjabi. The court then agreed to allow us a Punjabi translator," Bindu Suresh Chettur, the lawyer handling the case, said today.

According to her, the Sharjah Court of Appeal then adjourned the case to June 16 when it will be heard again.

The Indian consulate in Dubai has already made a translator available to the Indians. "Things are being taken forward step-by-step but I can tell you that things have gone according to plan," Chettur said.

A Sharjah court of First Instance had on March 29 found the 17 Indians, 16 from the Punjab and one from Haryana, guilty of beating a Pakistani man to death and wounding three others when a fight involving dozens of bootleggers broke out in the Al Sajaa industrial area in January last year.

An appeal was filed on April 7 on behalf of the Indians.

About 50 people were allegedly involved in the attack, in which the Pakistani man was beaten to death with metal bars. While others were let off due to lack of evidence, the men on death row are accused of being the gang leaders.

Amid an outrage in India over the verdict, the government had asked its consulate in Sharjah to engage a top lawyer and file an appeal to a higher court.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had termed the death sentence on the Indians as "very unfortunate" and instructed his ministry to assist them in filing an appeal and also bear all the expenses involved. — PTI 

Kabul, May 19
Insurgents launched a brazen pre-dawn assault today against the giant US-run Bagram Air Field, killing an American contractor and wounding nine service members in the second Taliban strike at NATO forces in and around the capital in as many days.

At least 10 insurgents were killed as Taliban suicide bombers attempted to breach the defences of the base north of Kabul, while others fired rockets and grenades inside, according to a statement issued by US forces.

The attack started around 3 am. Blasts and gunfire only subsided around midday, said Master Sgt. Tom Clementson, a spokesman for US forces. No insurgents managed to get into the base and none were able to detonate their suicide vests, the statement said.

The Bagram attack came a day after a suicide bomber struck a US convoy in Kabul, killing 18 people. The dead included five American troops and a Canadian, making it the deadliest attack on NATO in the Afghan capital in eight months.

The back-to-back attacks show the militants intent to strike at the heart of the US-led mission, apparently part of an offensive announced by the Taliban earlier this month _ even as NATO prepares for a major operation to restore order in the turbulent south.

In the latest violence in the south, a NATO service member died in a bomb attack today, the military alliance said in a statement. It did not provide further details.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both the Kabul bombing and the attack at Bagram, 50 km north of Kabul.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said 20 suicide attackers were involved. An Afghan provincial police commander, Gen. Abdul Rahman Sayedkhail, said the attack began when US guards spotted would-be attackers in a car just outside the Bagram base. The Americans opened fire, triggering a gunbattle in which at least one militant triggered his suicide vest. — AP