SOUTHEAST ASIA

THOUSANDS MARCH TO THAI PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

BANGKOK, Thailand – Tens of thousands of protesters demanding the prime minister’s resignation marched to his office last night after a boisterous rally accusing Thaksin Shinawatra of corruption and abuse of power. Leaders vowed the crowds would camp out in the streets until Mr. Thaksin quit.

Marchers were stopped by a police line near Democracy Monument – the site of bloody pro-democracy demonstrations in 1973, 1976, and 1992. But protest leaders negotiated with authorities and won permission to continue to Government House, the prime minister’s office.

No major violence was reported, although some demonstrators broke through the police line before permission to pass was negotiated. A large number of police rushed to guard the perimeter of Government House, but Mr. Thaksin was believed to be in northeastern Thailand.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

HALIMI SUSPECT RETURNED TO FRANCE

The gang leader accused of brutally torturing and killing Ilan Halimi has been returned to France from the Ivory Coast, the BBC reports. Youssef Fofana, a Frenchman of Ivory Coast descent, was flown back in a French military aircraft to face trial after the Ivorian president, Laurent Gbagbo signed the extradition order.

The death of Halimi, a Jew who was tortured for three weeks before being killed, has shocked France’s political elite, and revived the memory of French anti-Semitism from the Dreyfuss scandal to Klaus Barbi’s contribution to the Holocaust. President Chirac and his wife attended a memorial service of Halimi in a Parisian synagogue, and other Cabinet ministers have declared that the killing was inspired by anti-Semitism.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SOUTH ASIA

SECURITY FORCES REGAIN CONTROL OF TOWN ATTACKED BY TRIBESMEN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Backed by helicopters and artillery, security forces regained control of a major town near Afghanistan yesterday after a fierce overnight battle with local tribesmen, authorities said. But sporadic fighting continued, underscoring the challenge that still confronts the government four years after its army began operations to secure the remote region.

The government’s assertion of progress came a day after hundreds of armed tribesmen seized government buildings in the town of Miran Shah, forcibly shut down the main bazaar, and opened fire on an army fort, the chief military spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan, said at a news conference yesterday afternoon.

The local insurrection began on the same day that President Bush met in Islamabad with President Musharraf on a visit aimed partly at ensuring Pakistan’s full cooperation in the war on terrorism. The tribesmen were retaliating for an army assault earlier in the week on a militant training camp in the same area.

– The Washington Post