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"How many times do I have to deny it? You reporters had better help me here. You asked deputy Army chief Prayuth [Chanocha] yesterday and you ask me again today, and you will definitely ask me again tomorrow. If it goes on like this, businesses will suffer," he said.

"There is nothing, and the Army is not divided like some people might think. What you are inquiring about is impossible."

Unprecedented gatherings by key Army units around the country to support Anupong in his confrontation with rebellious officer Maj-General Khattiya Sawasdipol have prompted speculation that the gatherings were meant to check or reconfirm the loyalty there is for the Army leader.

It was also seen by some as a veiled warning to the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra red-shirt movement, or even as a sign that a coup might be forthcoming.

Anupong yesterday insisted that while there might be some "individual problems", the Army remained united and totally behind the democratic system.

Yet, as more gatherings took place yesterday and followed the same pattern of soldiers pledging allegiance to the armed forces and denouncing Khattiya's activities, doubts emerged as to whether the Army was overreacting to just one "rogue" officer or if there was more to it than met the eye.

At the 11th Army Region headquarters, key combat units from the capital and its suburbs gathered to denounce Khattiya as a tool being used to drag the military into politics, causing divisions and damaging its reputation.

"We just want to show that the majority of soldiers are disciplined and ready to protect the honour and dignity of the Army," said Maj-General Ukrit Narongwit, who leads the 11th Army Region.

Meanwhile, at the 11th Army Infantry Regiment headquarters, a seminar on discipline was attended by many battalion commanders, during which Khattiya's activities were widely and harshly condemned.

"It used to be that we had to defend the Army's reputation against outsiders, but now we sadly have to do it within ourselves," lamented Colonel Apirat Kongsompong, head of the 11th Infantry Regiment.