Thai anti-government protesters ended a three-week siege of the prime minister's office on Tuesday, stepping back from a confrontation.

"We have to stop because we need to look after the lives of our supporters," said Jatuporn Prompan, one of the leaders of the red-shirted protesters loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who commands widespread loyalty among the rural poor.

Protesters had been camped at the building for three weeks and violence flared in Bangkok on Monday, with two people killed and more than 100 wounded.

Army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd said earlier on television the authorities estimated about 2,000 protesters were encamped at Government House.

The "red shirts" vowed to return, however.

"This is not the end. We'll be back. Our leaders will meet after Songkran to discuss our next move," one protest leader, Nattawut Saikuar, told Reuters.

Not negotiating with Thaksin

On Monday there were violent clashes at a big intersection in the capital, which the red-shirted demonstrators had barricaded and which troops cleared with repeated charges, firing shots.

Black smoke had billowed over the city of 12 million people after protesters set fire to buses to block the troops. A fire was started in one government building.

Abhisit, who declared a state of emergency in Bangkok on Sunday, told Reuters it was a "do-or-die" moment for the rule of law and he would not negotiate with Thaksin.

Financial markets remained closed for the three-day Thai New Year holiday, reopening on Thursday. The holiday meant the roads of Bangkok, normally clogged, were quiet this week.

Abhisit told Reuters that dissolving parliament in order to hold elections could lead to electoral violence, but he would listen to the grievances of some of the protesters.

"I'm not interested in making a deal with Thaksin," he said.

"But I do listen to the concerns of some people who have joined the 'red shirts' in terms of democratic developments. In particular, if they are not satisfied with the constitution, if they think there may be some injustice in the system, I am happy to address those."

Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup and living in exile to avoid jail on a corruption conviction, also popped up on international TV networks, claiming that many people had died on Monday.

Two dead

A government minister and medical officers said two people died, both of them in skirmishes between residents and protesters, many of whom were bused in from outside the capital.

Army spokesman Sansern said a soldier patrolling in the city during the night had been seriously wounded by a shot fired by someone riding on a motorbike.

The Emergency Medical Institute said on Tuesday that 113 people, including soldiers, had been injured in the clashes.

On Saturday, protesters forced the cancellation of a high-profile Asian summit in Thailand, a big embarrassment for Abhisit, who took office only in December.

The political strife in Thailand died down for a while after he came to office through parliamentary defections that Thaksin supporters say were engineered by the army.

They want new elections, and the latest protests flared up after Thaksin said Abhisit must resign by April 8 -- the day before the now abandoned East Asia Summit started.


Agencies