Thai lawyers seek Thaksin return

Mr Thaksin has remained abroad since last year's bloodless coup

Thai prosecutors are heading to the UK for talks with officials on extraditing ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on corruption charges.

Talks would focus on evidence required by UK courts to secure Mr Thaksin's return, the team leader said.

Thai courts have issued two separate arrest warrants for the former PM and his wife, who have been in the UK since the military seized power in 2006.

The telecoms billionaire has since bought Manchester City football club.

He denies the charges against him and says that they are politically motivated.

Extradition treaty

Mr Thaksin is facing arrest warrants relating to two cases.

In the first, he is accused of helping his wife buy land from a state agency at a favourable price. In the second, the couple are accused of violating stock trading laws.

"We are not yet submitting, during this trip, any formal request for Britain to repatriate him," Nanthasak Poolsuk, head of the prosecutors' team, told Reuters news agency.

"We will only consult British prosecutors on the legal procedures and evidence that a British court would require in agreeing to sending criminal suspects here for trial," he said.

Discussion would focus on whether a bilateral extradition treaty covered financial crimes and corruption offences, he said.

If Mr Thaksin were to be extradited and then convicted, it could pose a problem for the English Premier League.

He might then be in breach of the league's rules on club ownership, correspondents say.