Fugitive former Thai PM in UAE, says diplomat
21-NOV-2008 Intellasia | AP
Nov 21, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
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| Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, left, is received by Sheik Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research, in his palace in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday November 18, 2008. Thaksin's whereabouts and his plans to settle down outside Thailand have lately been sources of intense speculation. Thaksin faces two-years in jail after a Thai court found him guilty of conflict of interest in a land deal. Thailand's Consul-General in the Emirates Pasan Therapak said Thaksin had only come to visit the Emirates and did not have plans to stay more than a few days, a government-owned newspaper said in a photo caption on Wednesday.
(AP Photo) |
Thailand's fugitive former prime minister was in the United Arab Emirates visiting friends and business associates, Thailand's top diplomat in Dubai said Wednesday.
Thaksin Shinawatra faces two-years in jail after a Thai court convicted him of conflict of interest in a land deal. Since the verdict last month, Thaksin's whereabouts outside Thailand have been source of intense speculation.
In Dubai, Thai Consul-General Pasan Teparak said Thaksin will be in the Emirates "for some time," but quickly added the former prime minister is "not staying long."
"We don't know his plans," Teparak said. "He has no official status in the government, so we don't keep track of his movements."
But it didn't appear Thaksin was trying to keep his whereabouts secret. A picture in the Dubai-based Khaleej Times newspaper on Wednesday showed Thaksin shaking hands with an Emirates' government official in Abu Dhabi. The Dubai government owns a significant stake in the paper's publisher.
Dubai was frequently mentioned as a potential haven for Thaksin, and the Persian Gulf boomtown has played host to out-of-favour overseas officials in the past. But an immigration official in Dubai said last week he was unaware of any interest by Thaksin in coming to live here.
An official at Thailand's Embassy in Abu Dhabi said Wednesday he only learned of Thaksin's visit through media reports.
Kobboon Sangmanee, the second secretary at Thailand's embassy in Abu Dhabi, said the former prime minister had not contacted the embassy for assistance.
UAE officials also have not contacted the Thai embassy regarding Thaksin status, Sangmanee said.
Thaksin has had contacts with envoys of Abu Dhabi's ruling family since earlier this year, when he agreed to sell the Manchester City football team to a group led by Sheik Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of Abu Dhabi's ruler and the UAE's president.
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