PM TAKES RIDGE TO TASK OVER RIGHTS REPORT BY WASHINGTON

US Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge has agreed to pass on the
government's concerns about a damning human rights report released
recently by Washington.

Speaking after a meeting yesterday between Mr Ridge and Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said the
United States would consider fresh information that had been submitted
by the government and revise the report accordingly.

Mr Thaksin voiced his disappointment at the report, prepared by the US
State Department, which described the human rights climate in Thailand
as "worsening" following extra-judicial killings and arbitrary
arrests during last year's drugs crackdown.

He also aired concern over Washington's choice of sources for the
report, saying the US government had been kept abreast of rights issues.

Mr Ridge lauded the signing on Thursday of a memorandum of intent
(MoI) for a Terrorist Interdiction Programme Border Control System as
a concrete measure to combat the threat of terrorism.

He also expressed his country's gratitude for the military's help in
rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr Ridge also praised Mr Thaksin for maintaining the country's gross
domestic product at 6.7%