Rogue Anti-Government Thai General Shot in Head

A renegade army general accused of leading a paramilitary force among Thailand's Red Shirt protesters was shot in the head Thursday while speaking with foreign reporters as the government prepared to blockade the protesters' camp in downtown Bangkok.

At least one person was killed in clashes between the anti-government protesters and soldiers that continued into the night, the government's medical emergency center said. It said seven others were injured.

Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdiphol was shot after the government announced that troops would encircle the protesters' encampment in the city's main commercial district, and that snipers would shoot "terrorists" in an effort to end the Red Shirts' 2-month-long siege.

Khattiya, 59, known by his nickname Seh Daeng, was hit as he was being interviewed at the edge of the protest zone and slumped to the ground. One person cradled his head. Moments later, others dragged him by the legs, his head sliding on the ground and leaving a trail of blood as he was rushed to a hospital. An aide said his injury was severe.

The government also announced it is extending a state of emergency to cover 17 provinces to prevent more people from joining the thousands of protesters in the capital.

The decree gives the army broad powers to deal with protesters and places restrictions on civil liberties. Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said it is intended to prevent "masses of people trying to come to Bangkok."

The protesters, mostly rural poor, are demanding the dissolution of Parliament. They believe Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's coalition government came to power illegitimately through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military.

In an interview with the AP about 90 minutes before he was shot, Khattiya, dressed in military-style fatigues, said he anticipated a military crackdown soon.

"It's either dusk or dawn when the troops will go in," he said. He was shot soon after night fell.

Later in the evening, small clashes broke out between protesters and soldiers. At one point, hundreds of protesters threw rocks and firecrackers at a group of soldiers, who responded with gunfire, AP cameraman Raul Gallego said.

He said one man was shot in the head. Soldiers opened fire again after an ambulance took the man away. It was not immediately clear if he was the same man that the government's medical emergency center said had died. It also reported seven other people were hurt, but couldn't confirm Thai media reports of more than 20 injuries.

An earlier army attempt to clear the protesters from the capital on April 10 led to clashes that killed 19 protesters, five troops and a Japanese journalist and wounded more than 800. Another four people were killed in violence in the following weeks.

Thursday's shooting deepened fears of more bloodshed.

Khattiya is a renegade general who has been accused by the government of being a terrorist and a mastermind of some of the violence.

He bitterly opposed reconciling with the government and became critical of Red Shirt leaders, some of whom had wanted to accept a government compromise.

Khattiya helped construct barricades of sharpened bamboo stakes and tires around the protest area and is accused of creating a paramilitary force among the protesters. He vowed to battle the army if it launched a crackdown.

In the AP interview, he accused Red Shirt leaders of taking government bribes to accept Abhisit's reconciliation plan to hold early elections on Nov. 14, more than a year ahead of schedule. However, the plan was abandoned after the Red Shirts made new demands and refused to leave.

Khattiya was suspended from the army in January and an arrest warrant was issued against him. Yet he has wandered freely through the protest zone, signing autographs just yards (meters) from security forces keeping watch over the protesters.

Earlier Thursday, an army spokesman, Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, said security forces would impose a lockdown on the protest area.

Sansern said armored personnel carriers and snipers would surround the area. Power, public transport and cell phone service in the area also were suspended.

The Red Shirts see Abhisit's government as serving an elite insensitive to the plight of most Thais. The protesters include many supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist leader accused of corruption and abuse of power and ousted in a 2006 military coup.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications billionaire who fled overseas to avoid a corruption conviction, is widely believed to be helping to bankroll the protests. He claims to be a victim of political persecution.