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Thailand's Senate meets amid tight security

Thailand's Senate meets amid tight security for vote on amnesty bill as thousands protest

BANGKOK (AP) -- Thailand's Senate convened a highly charged session Monday that will likely kill an amnesty bill that could have paved the way for the return of the country's divisive self-exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thousands of protesters rallied in several parts of Bangkok, raising concerns of renewed political violence after three years of relative calm. Nearly 7,000 police officers were deployed around the Parliament in the city's historic district, near the main protest site.

Critics led by the opposition Democrat Party say the bill was designed to whitewash the crimes of Thaksin, who is closely allied with the ruling party. They say the bill is an underhanded attempt by the government to pave the way for his return to Thailand, which he fled in 2008 to escape corruption charges.

Since it was passed by the lower house Nov. 1, the bill has set off demonstrations in Bangkok by both pro- and anti-government supporters.

"This could push the country's stability to the brink," the English-language Bangkok Post said in a front-page editorial Monday, one of many newspapers that called for calm. "All sides should take a step back and start sorting out the conflict in a peaceful way."

The protests have been peaceful, but more than a dozen Bangkok schools located near protest sites closed Monday or sent students home early, citing safety concerns.

Thaksin, whose sister Yingluck Shinawatra is now prime minister, retains wide support, especially from rural voters who gained from his populist policies. But he remains highly polarizing seven years after being ousted by a 2006 military coup over allegations of corruption and disrespect for Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Differences between Thaksin's supporters and opponents arouse fierce passions that sometimes have erupted into violence, most recently in 2010 when a military crackdown on pro-Thaksin supporters left about 90 people dead.

The Senate speaker has vowed to reject the bill to defuse the tension on Bangkok's streets, and Yingluck has assured protesters that the ruling party will drop the legislation if the Senate strikes it down as expected.

As Monday's debate got underway, the 149-seat Senate braced for a long day and night. Some 90 senators requested speaking time and each was granted a 10-minute limit, meaning the debate could last 15 hours.

"I cannot accept this bill," said Sen. Rosana Tositrakul, one of Thaksin's harshest critics. "Not only because the people have come out to oppose it, but because it is unconstitutional."

The original draft of the bill did not extend amnesty to the leaders of both the pro-Thaksin "Red Shirt" protesters and the anti-Thaksin "Yellow Shirt" groups, but a House committee vote in mid-October changed the bill to include both. The last-minute change led to criticism that it was planned all along to apply to Thaksin.

The Senate debate coincided with another highly charged ruling Monday by the U.N.'s highest court on the unrelated matter of a territorial dispute with Cambodia.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Cambodia has sovereignty over a disputed promontory around a 1,000-year-old temple that has fueled nationalist passions on both sides for decades.

The two issues have no connection, but the government was concerned that if Thailand lost the case it would be used by protest leaders to stir up anti-government passions.

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