US cautions Thai generals against taking politically-motivated actions

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The Nation

September 26, 2006

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US cautions Thai generals against taking politically-motivated actions

 

WASHINGTON - The United States Monday urged military generals who seized power in Thailand to avoid politically-motivated actions, as the junta launched a probe into corruption in the ousted government.

 

The message came as the military leaders set up a high-powered committee at the weekend to look into the books and tax records of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his cabinet members and their relatives, with a possibility of seizing any ill-gotten assets.

 

"Certainly, what we want to see happen as this process moves forward is a quick handover to civilian authorities and that any investigations or other activities that are done again be done in accordance with the law rather than being done for political purposes," deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

 

 

The United States is following the situation in Thailand "very closely" and "would not look favorably upon any kind of movement that was politically motivated," he said

 

 

Washington has condemned last Tuesday's military coup and called for a quick return to civilian rule and elections. It is also studying the possibility of reviewing military and other assistance to Thailand, a key Southeast Asian ally.

 

 

Since taking power, the new regime has issued a raft of decrees and instructions, banning gatherings of more than five people and placing limits on the media, enforced by armed guards in some televisions stations.

 

 

Some 300 community radio stations in the country's rural north, the heartland of Thaksin's support, have been closed down, and all grassroots political activity banned at the village, district and provincial levels.

 

 

US officials are talking to the military rulers on the restrictions, Casey said,a dding that elections was a critical benchmark for the return of democracy.

 

 

"Ultimately, it's through holding the elections that we believe you can return Thailand to a situation where you clearly have a government that represents the will of the people," he said.

 

 

"Anything that happens in between that time needs to be done in accordance with Thai law," he added.

 

 

Agence France-Presse