Red-shirt leaders blow whistle on coup

Red-shirt leaders on Thursday stepped out to speak in unison, voicing suspicion about a military intervention to seize power after the upcoming House dissolution.

Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan said Army Chief of Staff General Dapong Rattanasuwan should explain why he urgenly summoned three key commanders to meet him at his residence on Wednesday's night.

The three commanders were from the First, Second and Ninth Divisions based in Bangkok, Prachin Buri and Kanchanaburi respectively. All three divisions were involved in the 2006 coup.

Red-shirt leader Natthawut Saikua said he suspected the Army was plotting a coup under the disguise of ensuring preparedness to uphold the monarchy.

Natthawut claimed the mock exercise on preparedness was actually a checking campaign to rally the subordinates before staging the power seizure.

He said under the coup plotters would work in three steps - trying to revoke the bail of red-shirt leaders, ensuring the House dissolution in the first week of May and seizing power of the caretaker government.

The coup plot was designed to foil the poll because of the top brass' concern about the Pheu Thai election victory, he said.

He went out to assert that the soldiers were prepared to advance forward the coup if the judiciary failed to approve the bail cancellation.

He said the red shirts would fight against any attempts at power seizure. Red-shirt leader Thida Thawornseth flew off to Malaysia to meet with Thaksin Shinawatra's lawyer Robert Amsterdam to discuss anti-coup strategy, he said.