Germany 'blacklists' Thaksin

Chawanon Intarakomarasut, secretary to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the ministry had obtained a letter from the German Embassy explaining the situation.

Chawanon said, according to the embassy, the German government had put Thaksin on its "national exemption" persona non grata list in December last year, following his repeated phone-in addresses to anti-government rallies by his supporters in Thailand.

It was found later that Thaksin carried a resident permit to stay in Germany.

The German embassy explained in its letter to the foreign ministry that given the federal government's ban, the permit was considered illegally issued. Thaksin had not formally informed the federal government about his trip to Germany and its authorities were investigating the matter.

"In addition to rescinding his Schengen visa [for travel in European Union countries], Germany also cancelled Thaksin's resident permit," said Chawanon.

"The German authorities said they and the EU governments will not allow any individual to use their countries as a base to attack another country. They also said that if Thaksin returns to Germany, they will detain him," he said.