Thai protest leader draws line at civil war

[BANGKOK] The leader of a movement trying to topple Thailand's government said he would call off his protest if civil war threatened to break out, but rejected any compromise with the government ahead of a planned "shutdown" of the capital today.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban ruled out talks with the government in an interview published yesterday, but said he would stand down his movement if, as some fear, violence escalates and civil war looms.

"If it becomes a civil war, I will give up. People's life is precious for me," he was reported as saying by the English-language Sunday Nation. "If someone instigates a civil war, I will tell the people to go home."