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BANGKOK: British authorities have revoked the visas
of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife, an
airline official told Agence France-Presse on Saturday.
The official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said the British Embassy had informed all
airlines in an e-mail on Friday not to allow the couple to board
flights to Britain.
“The British embassy sent an
email message to all airlines . . . It’s general practice for all
airlines, so no airline can take them on board to England from any
port,” he said.
Embassy officials refused to
confirm or deny the report, but in the e-mail seen by Agence France-Presse,
Bangkok-based immigration liaison Manager Andy Gray, from the UK
Border Agency wrote:
“The United Kingdom Border
Agency has revoked the UK visas held by the following Thai
nationals: Thaksin Shinawatra . . . Potjaman Shinawatra,” listing
the pair’s passport numbers.
“The UK visas contained in the
passports of the individuals listed above are no longer valid for
travel. Airlines are advised not to carry these passengers to the
UK,” the e-mail said.
Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup,
fled to Britain in August after his wife was convicted on tax
evasion charges, saying he would not receive a fair trial in
Thailand.
He has since been sentenced in
absentia to two years in prison for conflict of interest after
helping his wife buy state-owned land when he was then prime
minister. Four other corruption cases are outstanding against him.
His exact whereabouts on Saturday
were unknown, but local media reported he was travelling from China
to the Philippines.
Thaksin’s Thailand-based
spokesman said he could not confirm the report.
“What I can verify is that
Thaksin has not received any document from the British authorities
concerning this issue . . . But if it’s true Thaksin can clarify
the matter,” said Phonthep Thepkanjana.
In October a British Home Office
spokesman said Thaksin and his wife had applied for political
asylum, but people close to Thaksin were later quoted in Thai media
as saying that report was incorrect.
Thaksin’s critics in Thailand,
supported by a group called the People’s Alliance for Democracy,
have occupied the grounds of the prime minister’s offices since
August, accusing the current government of running the country on
his behalf.
The group, whose protests
preceded the 2006 coup, descended on the British embassy on October
30 to demand Britain extradites the former premier, a week after a
senior Thai prosecutor admitted the chances of doing so were
“slim.”
But the director of the attorney
general’s international affairs department told Agence France-Presse
he hoped to begin the legal process by the start of next year.
Thaksin addressed his supporters
in Thailand on November 1, denouncing his opponents in a telephone
address to 90,000 loyal supporters packed into a Bangkok sports
stadium.
The populist politician maintains
a loyal support base among the kingdom’s majority rural poor.
Speaking from an undisclosed
location Thaksin thanked the crowd but told them he could not return
to the kingdom from exile without a royal pardon.
Despite his considerable wealth,
Thaksin was forced to sell British Premier League club Manchester
City in September after his assets in Thailand were frozen as a
result of the corruption and fraud charges.
The 59-year-old sold up to United
Arab Emirates-based investment group Abu Dhabi United Group for
Development and Investment but keeps an honorary role on the
club’s board.
--AFP
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