ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION
Sondhi in safe condition now: doctor
Sondhi Limthongkul has been declared to be in safe condition after being shot by heavily-armed gunmen.Ads by Google
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The gangland-style shooting is expected to prolong the state of emergency in Bangkok and suburbs, government leader said.
There had been serious concerns for Sondhi's life as a bullet lodged in his skull, causing bleeding inside his brain. Vajira Hospital doctors conducted an urgent operation on Sondhi which completed before noon.
Sondhi is now safe and even able to speak, medical sources said.
Sondhi, a core leader of yellow shirts, known also as People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), who seized Bankok airports late last year, has no wounds on his body.
His driver, Vayupak Mussi, was also seriously wounded from the attack. Doctors said later that he survived and was now in stable condition.
PAD's spokesman Parnthep Pualpongpan said at least two attackers riding on a pickup blocked Sondhi's vehicle who was on Samsen Road, heading to Manager newspaper office in Banglampoo area early Friday morning.
The attackers then shot four tyres of Sondhi's vehicle before stepping out of their car and sprayed more bullets on the car. The attack lasted about five minutes and the attackers went back to their pickup which sped away along Tevet Road.
Police who rushed to the scene found Sondhi's car riddled with bullets and they could collect more than 100 cartridges of AK-16 and rifles from the scene.
Parnthep said Sondhi was informed of reports that he could possible a target of attack, but he simply ignored the warnings.
Meanwhile Chamnong Paokorn, 53, a bus driver, said that he was driving his bus past Iamworanut Temple when he saw a blue pickup truck which had no license plate blocked Sondhi's vehicle.
Then two men on the back of the pickup then opened fires on the vehicle. Then another vehicle sped to the scene and exchanged fires with the attackers who later escaped the scene.
The incident will surely renew political tension which seemed to subside over the past two days after the red-shirted protesters decided to end their Bangkok rally after three days of turmoil in Pattaya and the capital.
Sondhi is the leader of the anti-Thaksin movement, but those close to him said he had too many enemies to pinpoint who could have masterminded the assassination attempt. He has heavily criticized the police and the military over their handling of the pro-Thaksin red-shirted protests and called for removal of police and military leaders.
