Journalist's horror as 'Commander Red' is shot in head during face-to-face interview



A rogue army general who modelled himself on 'Braveheart' has been shot in the head by a sniper during a face-to-face an interview with a New York Times reporter in Bangkok.

Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol is said to be leading the red shirts – a militant wing of Thai anti-government protesters – and had been organising their defences in the centre of the city.

The Major General, also known as Seh Daeng (meaning Commander Red) was shot in his head as he was giving an interview to New York Times correspondent Thomas Fuller.

He survived the shooting overnight but is still fighting for life in hospital today.



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When the bullet hit him, he was inside the barricaded red shirt encampment, facing a road, overpass and a business district with several tall buildings, said the journalist.



In his initial report for the New York Times, Mr Fuller did not betray the horror he must have felt as the leader was gunned down before his eyes, writing only that the Major General 'was shot before this reporter'.

A later New York Times report, co-authored by Mr Fuller and another journalist, simply said that the general had been gunned down in front of a 'a reporter for the New York Times'.

In clinical language, they wrote: 'The reporter, who was two feet away and facing the general, heard a loud bang similar to that of a firecracker.

The general fell to the ground, his eyes wide open.'

The shooting came as violence broke out in the Thai capital yesterday. Today troops were firing on protesters as the situation threatened to intensify.



Up to three foreign journalists are believed to have been shot in the fighting, one from France 24.



Khattiya is also in charge of security at an encampment occupied by thousands of demonstrators.



Around the same time as Khattiya was shot, a loud blast was heard, followed by bursts of automatic gunfire near the heavily guarded business district.



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The hospital where Khattiya was taken said today he was unlikely to survive.

He is suspected to be behind several grenade attacks on army, police and civilians which have injured more than 100 people, which he denies, saying: 'No one saw me!'

Khattiya was named as a terrorist by Thailand prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and is a figure the government would want removed from the scene.

Khattiya, a personal friend of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had fallen out with his army superiors after which he was put in charge of military aerobics training.

'Everybody laughed at me. You don't assign a warrior like me to do a stupid thing like that,' he was quoted as saying afterwards.

In an interview with a wire service reporter he said: 'Do you know the Braveheart movie? Mel Gibson is the same as me.’



While many considered him to be slightly loopy, or a loose cannon, he was admired by red shirts who queued for his autograph.

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Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is under enormous pressure to end the violent political crisis that has killed 29 people, wounded more than 1,400, paralysed parts of the capital and slowed growth in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

On Wednesday, he cancelled a proposed November 14 election under his 'national reconciliation' plan and called off talks with the red-shirted protesters after they raised new demands.

The 22-member red shirt leadership council has struggled to find common ground on how to end the protests and appeared in disarray tonight. Its chairman and several others have not been seen in days.



The situation was tense in Bangkok last night where some 20 civilians were reported to have been injured in a new series of grenade attacks.

The British Embassy in Bangkok shut down as troops moved in on anti-government red-shirt demonstrators with permission to use live ammunition.

The Embassy will close until further notice. An Embassy spokesman said British citizens should watch the Embassy's website for any developments.

As protests continued today, demonstrators captured and vandalised two military water cannon trucks today, ripping the cannon from its moorings and using its plastic barrel to shoot firecrackers.