U.S. urges Thailand to limit emergency rule

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thailand's government should limit the state of emergency imposed to try to end clashes with its political opponents who have been seeking to oust Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, the White House said on Thursday.

Samak issued the state of emergency on Tuesday after one person was killed and 45 were injured during clashes. On Thursday he called for a national referendum to end the crisis, which has become a major distraction for his government.

Thousands of protesters have set up camp on the Government House compound in Bangkok, but despite the emergency decree by Samak, the army has refused to step in to forceably remove them for fear of exacerbating the situation.

"We hope the Thai government will be able to limit the duration, and extent to which it implements the emergency decree, to the extent necessary to restore the authority of Thailand's democratically elected government," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

U.S. President George W. Bush met Samak a month ago in Bangkok where he praised the Thai leader for their close ties as well as sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, and for efforts to aid those affected by Cyclone Nargis in neighbouring Myanmar.

Johndroe said the White House was following the political developments closely.

"We urge both supporters and opponents of the Thai government to refrain from violence, respect the rule of law and address their differences within Thailand's democratic institutions," he said.

The anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a mainly middle class grouping of royalists and businessmen whose activists took over the prime minister's offices, called the plan for a vote a delaying tactic to keep Samak in office.

The PAD accuses Samak of being an illegal proxy for former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup and now in exile in London. Thaksin is widely admired by the poor and in the countryside but despised by Bangkok's middle class.