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Politics
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2006-12-02 21:20:40-05
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Clinton asks Thailand to restore democracy
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Former U.S. President Bill Clinton Saturday urged Thailand's military rulers to keep their promise and return democracy to the Southeast Asian country. "They say they are going to restore democracy in the near future, and I think it's important that they do so," Clinton said while touring a Thai gypsy village damaged by the 2004 tsunami, The Bangkok Post reported. Thailand's army seized control of the government Sept. 19 while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in New York for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, reports UPI. The United States, European Union and other governments condemned the coup as contrary to democracy, but did not call for the immediate restoration of an elected government. New Prime Minister Gen. Surayud Chulanont, sworn in Oct. 1, promised to restore democracy. Clinton, completing his final trip to the region as the top U.N. envoy for the tsunami recovery effort, expressed concern that most people left homeless by the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunamis were still living in temporary shelters.
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