Thais demand ex-PM's extradition

Thousands of demonstrators have marched to the British embassy in Bangkok to demand the extradition of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Thaksin and his wife fled to Britain last week to avoid facing a series of corruption charges.

The Thai Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant, and prosecutors are considering whether to start the long process of requesting his extradition.

Mr Thaksin was overthrown in a military coup in September 2006.

After 18 months of self-imposed exile, he returned to Thailand in February, vowing to fight the charges against him and clear his name.

But on 31 July his wife was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to three years in jail. Analysts say that the couple feared further cases could go against them and decided it was time to leave the country.

Calls for justice

Mr Thaksin faces a raft of allegations of corruption and abuse of power - cases that will still go ahead even though he is no longer in the country.

He has repeatedly denied the allegations, which he says are an attempt to remove him from politics.

A telecommunications billionaire who is also the boss of Manchester City football club in the UK, Mr Thaksin has both many friends and many enemies in his country.

According to local police, about 7,000 demonstrators rallied peacefully in front of the embassy on Tuesday, shouting "Thaksin go to jail".

"We are coming here to submit a letter to the British government asking them to return Thaksin to receive justice in Thailand," Chamlong Srimuang, one of the protest leaders, told reporters.

The protesters were from the People's Alliance for Democracy, which organised mass street protests against Mr Thaksin in the year before he was ousted.

The group has been holding protests since May, asking for the resignation of current Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who has been in power since elections last December.

The protesters accuse Mr Samak of being little more than a proxy for Mr Thaksin.