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Journalism of Courage
A renegade army general accused of leading a paramilitary force among Thailands Red Shirt protesters was shot in the head Thursday as he spoke with foreign reporters on a street near a downtown Bangkok subway station.
A second person was shot in the head by soldiers in ensuing clashes that continued in the night. At least three other people were injured.
Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdiphol was shot following a government warning it would shoot terrorists in its latest effort to end the two-month-long siege by thousands of Red Shirts. He is currently in hospital intensive care. The protesters are occupying a one-square-mile area in a posh neighbourhood to pressure the Prime Minister to resign and call elections.
Dressed in military-style fatigues,Khattiya was being interviewed outside the Silom subway station at the edge of the protest zone when a bullet struck him in the head. The area is surrounded by tall office buildings,leading to suspicions the shot was fired by a sniper.
Khattiya,known by his nickname Seh Daeng,slumped to the ground and one person cradled his head for a while. Moments later,people dragged him,his head sliding on the ground,leaving a trail of blood.
In an interview with the AP about 90 minutes before he was shot,Khattiya,59,said he anticipated a military crackdown soon. Its either dusk or dawn when the troops will go in, he said. He was shot soon after night fell.
An aide who answered Khattiyas mobile described the injury as severe. The attack took place after several gunshots and explosions were heard Thursday from the vicinity of the Red Shirts redoubt in Rajprasong district.
The governments medical emergency center confirmed that Khattiya was shot in the head and admitted to the intensive care unit at a hospital. It was not possible to verify the aides claim that Khattiya was shot by a sniper.
Later in the evening,small clashes broke out between protesters and soldiers. At one point,hundreds of protesters threw rocks and firecrackers at the group of soldiers,and the soldiers responded with gunfire.
Khattiya is a renegade army major general whom the government has labelled a terrorist and a mastermind behind some of the violence. He bitterly opposed reconciling with the government and had become critical of Red Shirt leaders,some of whom had wanted to accept a government proposal to end Thailands political crisis. He accused Red Shirt leaders of taking government bribes.
