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| Troubled Thai PM 'will not quit' | Troubled Thai PM 'will not quit' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Thailand's beleaguered Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej, has said he will not resign despite mounting pressure. | Thailand's beleaguered Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej, has said he will not resign despite mounting pressure. |
| In a radio address to the nation, he said he would not bow to the demands of anti-government protesters. | In a radio address to the nation, he said he would not bow to the demands of anti-government protesters. |
| On Tuesday Mr Samak imposed a state of emergency in Bangkok after his supporters and opponents clashed in the capital, leaving one person dead. | On Tuesday Mr Samak imposed a state of emergency in Bangkok after his supporters and opponents clashed in the capital, leaving one person dead. |
| Protesters say the government is a front for Thaksin Shinawatra - the former prime minister, now in exile. | Protesters say the government is a front for Thaksin Shinawatra - the former prime minister, now in exile. |
| "I am not resigning," Mr Samak said, adding that the had a popular mandate to govern. | |
| "These people want the government to quit, but how could I do that if the entire world is watching? It would be embarrassing to do so," he said. | |
| He would not dissolve parliament, he said, adding that he would stay "to preserve democracy and to protect the monarchy". | |
| Thousands of members of the opposition People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) remain in official compounds in Bangkok, which they seized more than a week ago. | |
| "The PAD will not hold talks with the government or anyone," one of the PAD leaders, Somsak Kosaisuk, said earlier. "The PAD will talk only after Samak has resigned." | |
| The PAD has a passionate following in various parts of the country, especially Bangkok, and some powerful backers among the elite. | |
| But it has little support in most of rural Thailand, which voted strongly for Mr Samak, and Mr Thaksin before him. Thai society remains deeply divided over the issue. |