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BANGKOK-Thailand's foreign minister has quit, local media reported on Wednesday, dealing another blow to Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej a day after he invoked emergency rule against protesters seeking to unseat him.Tej Bunnag, a retired diplomat appointed in July, resigned after completing his mission to repair relations with Cambodia after a temple row that forced out his predecessor, a television channel and news Web sites said.
Tej once served in King Bhumibol Adulyadej's principal private secretary's office, and his departure could be seen as the revered monarch expressing his reservations about Samak's administration.News of the resignation came a day after Samak invoked emergency rule in Bangkok to quash intensifying street protests against his seven-month old administration."If it is true, it is another step toward the end of this falling government," Ramkhamhaeng University analyst Boonyakiat Karavekphan said of Tej's reported resignation.Samak, who has refused to bow to protesters occupying his official compound for nine days, declared emergency rule on Tuesday after clashes between his supporters and anti-government protesters killed one man and injured 45.Hundreds of riot police were outside the Government House compound on Wednesday but made no move toward the thousands of protesters who are camped inside, singing and chanting anti-government slogans.The anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)-a motley coalition of businessmen, academics and activists who accuse Samak of being an illegitimate proxy of former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra-have vowed to stay until Samak steps down.
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