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Thai anti-government protesters appeared split on Monday over whether to call off their crippling demonstration after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva demanded a swift response to a peace plan that includes an early election.The "red shirt" protesters, drawn from the rural and urban poor, cancelled news conferences on Sunday evening and Monday morning amid reports their loosely organised leadership could not agree on a common response."The government has failed to show any sincerity to us," one leader, Weng Tojirakarn, told supporters from the stage erected at the protest site. "So far there has been no response from the government to any of our requests, which include calling off the state of emergency before ending the protest."After weekend gun and grenade attacks that killed two police officers and wounded 13 others, Abhisit had said he wanted a "clear answer" to his reconciliation offer on Monday, but he did not say how he would respond if none was forthcoming.The authorities are still faced with the dilemma of how to dislodge thousands of protesters, including women and children, from a fortified encampment sprawling across 3 sq km (1.2 sq mile) of an upmarket central Bangkok shopping district.For full coverage, click http://www.reuters.com/places/thailandThai stocks rose more than 1 percent on Monday, less than some other Asian bourses, which jumped on optimism over a European Union plan to help indebted euro zone countries."A rejection of the plan will be a setback to the peace efforts over the ongoing political impasse and could see reduced foreign inflows into the stock market," said Sukit Udomsirikul, a senior analyst at Siam City Securities.Central bank assistant governor Suchada Kirakul told Reuters Thailand saw $800 million foreign capital outflows last week, but added that the political instability had had little direct impact on the baht currency.The red shirts, who are largely supportive of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have been demonstrating since mid-March, at first demanding immediate elections, and have been in the shopping area since April 3, forcing malls and hotels to close at huge cost to the local economy.The protests are the latest instalment of a political crisis that stretches back to 2005 and has exposed a deep fault line in Thai society, pitting the poor and rural masses against the metropolitan middle classes and traditional, royalist elite."NO MORE VIOLENCE"Abhisit does not have to call an election until the end of 2011 but has offered polls on Nov. 14 as a way to end the latest crisis which has left 29 people dead and more than 1,000 wounded.In a weekly televised address on Sunday, he restated his commitment to the plan but said an election would not go ahead if there was disagreement and violence continued.His proposals call for reforms to address social injustice, a big red shirt grievance; an independent body to ensure unbiased reporting by the media; a committee to investigate violence; and political reform, possibly including constitutional amendments.The protesters want Abhisit to set a precise date for dissolving parliament and a say in any constitutional changes.They also want an investigation into the events of April 10, when a failed military attempt to break up the protest led to a gunbattle in which 25 people were killed.A red shirt leader, Nattawut Saikua, said it was likely the movement would reach an agreement and present its proposals to the government by Monday evening.He also rejected claims by Khattiya Sawasdipol, a rogue major-general aligned with the red shirts, that the exiled Thaksin wanted the protest to continue and planned to re-organise the group's leadership and put hardliners in charge."Thaksin does not have the power to re-position any leader. I talk to him all the time and we haven't heard anything about this," Nattawut told reporters. "What we want right now is reconciliation."The most recent violence took place in the Silom Road area of the capital guarded by soldiers and packed with offices, hotels and bars popular with tourists. The area is close to an entrance into the fortified encampment held by the protesters.The red shirts denied involvement in the attacks, which have added to pressure on Abhisit from the Bangkok middle classes, his core supporters, to take a tougher line with the protesters.U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, passing through Bangkok en route to Myanmar, said he was encouraged by the protesters' positive response to the peace proposal."But it must be said, we remain cautious about progress as those who don't want peace or political progress continue to employ violence as a means to undermine resolution of political difficulties," he told a news conference on Sunday.The red shirts say the ruling coalition has no mandate, having come to power in a parliamentary vote 17 months ago that they claim was orchestrated by the army top brass.(Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Alan Raybould and Martin Petty; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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