Thai P.M. Rejects Protesters' Offer

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected a compromise proposal from the redshirt protesters who have held a mega shopping mall in Bangkok for three weeks and who are growing violent. Vejjajiva said the offer was insincere, a PR move for the protesters who promise to escalate. The protesters support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted December 2008, and want the parliament dissolved and new elections in 30 days. The redshirts are mostly working class and consider the Oxford-educated Vejjajiva to have been installed by elites in place of the democratically elected Shinawatra. "If you want Central World shopping mall back safely, you must withdraw army forces out of the nearby Rajaprasong area immediately," a protest leader said. A grenade killed one person and injured 88 others Thursday in the capital’s business district. Analysts say Thailand is moving toward an undeclared civil war.