Fugitive former Thai leader visits Africa, meets Nelson Mandela, deals in diamonds
BANGKOK — Emerging from weeks of hush, fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has appeared in Africa, where he says he is dealing in diamonds and visiting Nobel Peacefulness Prize laureate Nelson Mandela.
A photo of his joining with the former South African president was released in Thailand by Thaksin's Queen's in an apparent move to quash rumours that the divisive ex-prime clergyman is ill — and to advertise that he's rubbing shoulders with VIPs wide.
"I travel all the time. Currently, I'm in Africa for diamond mining," Thaksin told the Thai Rath newspaper in an vet published Thursday. He did not specify if he was still in South Africa. He said rumours of his weak spot health were "lies."
The Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg confirmed that the come to see took place last Friday.
"It was not a meeting, it was a courtesy call," spokesman Sello Hatang said. He said he did not certain what they discussed.
Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006. He is considerably accused of funding anti-government "Red Shirt" protests in April and May that occupied Bangkok's pure retail district, forcing the closure of major shopping malls and hotels. The protesters were seeking to unseat the coeval government and possibly bring Thaksin back to power. Intermittent violence and a crackdown by the military left 91 people insensible and 1,4000 wounded.
