Thai cabinet extends emergency rule on south

Thailand's outgoing government extended a state of emergency across the restive Muslim-majority deep south during its last cabinet meeting on Tuesday following its election loss to the opposition. The next cabinet is set to be headed by Yingluck Shinawatra, the youngest sister of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose Puea Thai Party swept to victory in the July 3 poll on a wave of support among rural voters. One of the final acts of outgoing prime minister's Abhisit Vejjajiva's cabinet was to extend emergency rule, introduced in 2005, in an area covering most of Thailand's three southernmost provinces for a further two months. Critics accuse the government of failing to address the grievances of Thailand's Malay Muslim minority, including alleged abuses by the military and a perceived lack of respect for their ethnic identity, language and religion. The attacks appear to become more brazen in recent months, with car bombs and assaults on military bases or outposts. Three bomb blasts on Monday left 13 people injured, including 11 policemen who were hurt in an explosion at the site of an earlier attack at a rubber plantation in Yala province. The new parliament must convene within 30 days of the election to select a house speaker, and has another 30 days to pick a prime minister. "I hope that within 60 days the new cabinet would deliver a policy statement and hold its first meeting," Abhisit said.