Four senior Thai protest leaders in custody

Four senior Thai red shirt protest leaders were seen in police custody on Thai television on Wednesday after a bloody military offensive to disperse protesters in central Bangkok.

Jatuporn Prompan,one of the leaders in custody,had only minutes earlier offered to surrender. I apologise to you all but I don’t want any more losses. I am devastated too. We will surrender,he said from a stage in the protest camp.

Another leader,Nattawuk Saikua,urged supporters through blaring loudspeakers to give up and go home. He was in police custody as he spoke.

The Thai army said it had gained partial control of the protest encampment in Bangkok in an operation that killed at least four people and wounded 50.