Bangkok

Protesters defiant after deadly clashes in Bangkok

Anti-government protesters in Bangkok said they would not negotiate an end to violence in the Thai capital after savage clashes between activists and soldiers killed at least 18 people and injured more than 800 overnight.
Earlier today thousands of Red Shirt protesters swarmed back into an area that had briefly been taken by government forces last night. Bullet casings, rocks and pools of blood littered the streets as protesters showed off a pile of weapons captured from the troops, including rifles and heavy calibre machine-gun rounds.
“There is no more negotiation. Red Shirts will never negotiate with murderers,” a key protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan, announced from a makeshift stage. “Although the road is rough and full of obstacles, it's our duty to honour the dead by bringing democracy to this country.”
Hopes had been expressed that the two sides would come to the negotiating table after the worst violence in Bangkok since four dozen people were killed in a 1992 anti-military protest. The United States has urged both sides to show restraint.

The death toll rose during the night although the fighting, some of it in well-known tourist areas, had ended after the security forces pulled back late on Saturday and urged the red shirts to do the same.
Thai troops had fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of demonstrators, who fought back with guns, grenades and petrol bombs near the Phan Fah bridge and Rajdumnoen Road in Bangkok's old quarter, a base for the month-old protest.