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PAD siege broken

BANGKOK: -- Riot police launched a surprise tear-gas raid Tuesday morning to break up a siege and tear down barricades at parliament erected up overnight by supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy.

The PAD protesters retreated as unarmed police with shields and face masks moved through the barbed-wire barricades and tore them down.

Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat ordered police to clear the way into parliament for the scheduled policy debate on Tuesday morning. He had called an urgent cabinet meeting late Monday night after PAD human shields ringed parliament to prevent the meeting.

Several people were carried from the protest by fellow demonstrators after the short tear-gas attack, but it was not clear if there were any casualties when police moved in to clear the human blockade of parliament.

Hundreds of police massed in riot formation marched up to parliament shortly after sunrise at 6am. Officers armed with grenade launchers immediately began firing tear gas cannisters at the barricades.

Most of the gas grenades burst in piles of tyres placed by the demonstrators as part of their barricade. With the CS gas still heavy in the air and wafting over the area, police moved in to tear down the steel gates and barbed wire that had been strung by the PAD.

Most of the policemen had no protection against the gas, and covered their faces with handkerchiefs. The PAD crowds pulled back from the area as police moved in to open roads and remove the protesters' barricades.

PAD supporters screamed at police through the loudspeaker system as officers moved in, but the actual PAD core leaders were not seen. PAD founder and leader Sondhi Limthongkul could be heard deploring the "police attack on children in our midst" but he also did not come to the foreground of the action.