Aree quits

Speaking at a press conference held at his Lardprao house, Aree said the resignation will take effect on October 1. His two deputies and several senior Interior Ministry officials also attended the press conference.

Aree insisted that he had not violated the five-per cent stake holding ceiling as alleged by the National Counter Corruption Commission.

He said he had 30,000 shares in the Kwang Phaisarn Foods Products Co Ltd and his shares constituted less than 1 per cent of all shares.

But he said he decided to resign to take responsibility after he found out later that the company had sold its products to the Provincial Administration Department in two procurements worth about Bt6 million.

He insisted that he had no knowledge about the procurements, which were decided by the director-general of the department.

But he decided to resign to show his responsibility as the interior minister and an ex-officio member of the National Counter Corruption Commission.

"I would like to apologize for what has happened. I didn't intend to have it happen that way but the law must be the law," Aree told the press conference.

Earlier, Aree refused to resign after the NCCC alleged that he and two other Cabinet members have violated the five-per cent stake holding limit.

The two other ministers - Information and Communi-cations Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom and Deputy Commerce Minister Oranuj Osatananda - have already announced their decision to resign as of October 1.

A source said Aree eventually agreed to resign to pave way for retiring army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who would become both deputy prime minister and interior minister.

The Nation