POLICE SAY 1,035 KILLED IN THAILAND'S DRUG CRACKDOWN

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP): A day after Thailand's prime minister said the death
toll in his government's crackdown on illicit drugs exceeded 1,100 people,
police announced slightly lower figures Sunday and moved to allay fears over
the killings.

The number of suspected drug dealers gunned down in the month-old campaign
has risen almost hourly, raising concerns among human rights groups and the
United Nations that police officers have been carrying out extra-judicial
killings.

So far, 1,035 people have been killed, including 31 suspects who were shot
by officers in anti-drug operations, according to police spokesman Maj. Gen.
Pongsaphat Pongcharoen.

Authorities say most of the victims were killed by drug gangs trying to
silence potential informants and that suspects killed by police were slain
by officers acting in self defense.

"During the period, nine police officers have also been injured and we've
lost four officers on the job, too,'' Pongsaphat said, adding that he
expected the number of killings to decrease as the amount of drugs seized
grew.

"We've been doing very well and expect to do better in the next two
months,'' Pongsaphat said. "I'm confident police will finally nab the big
guys.''

Police have arrested some 29,501 suspects in the campaign, which is aimed
mainly at methamphetamine, a stimulant drug produced in factories along the
Myanmar border that has fueled an addiction crisis among some 3 million
Thais.

In a weekly radio address Saturday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said
more than 1,100 suspects had been killed -- including 28 by police -- in the
campaign scheduled to end on April 30.

Thaksin conceded that authorities were involved in the drug trade and that
about 700 government employees would be investigated. He said complaints
about alleged police misconduct would be reviewed by newly formed panels.

On Friday, Thaksin appointed two committees made up of lawyers and senior
police officers to determine whether police have been "acting legally'' and
to ensure the protection of suspects who cooperate with authorities.

In an anti-drug operation Sunday, police raided the house of a man alleged
to be a major drug dealer in Trang province, 800 kilometers (500 miles)
south of Bangkok, officials said.

Police said they arrested the suspect, who was found with 55 methamphetamine
tablets in his house. Authorities confiscated assets including the house,
six 10-wheel trucks, a tractor and four picktrucks.

Police raided the house after investigating the murder of the suspect's two
sons, who were allegedly killed by drug kingpins trying to prevent them from
tipping off police.

"Police know this guy is a major drug dealer in the province but (until now)
we've never had any evidence against him,'' police Col. Kosol Pringkongphol
said.