Thai Police Charge Five Soldiers with Plotting to Kill Thaksin

Thai police have charged five soldiers with plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with a car bomb last month.

The five soldiers are charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons and explosives. One was arrested with explosives in his car August 24th near Mr. Thaksin's Bangkok home.

Thai police detained a second soldier Monday in connection with the plot, and have ordered three others to appear for questioning Thursday.

Authorities say all five suspects are linked to a military agency called the Internal Security Operations Command. Mr. Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party is campaigning for a general election October 15th.

Thai opposition parties staged mass protests earlier this year demanding Mr. Thaksin resign, accusing him of abuse of power and corruption.

Information for this report is provided by Reuters.