Thai PM flees building during violent protests

Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been moved to a secret location after protesters forced their way into a police sports club in Bangkok where she was staying. The anti-government mob broke into the building where Shinawatra had been during the morning, but she was able to leave the premises and go to an undisclosed location, an aide said. In another area of the city, police have fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters near Government House, where the Premier's office is located. It is the first time police have used force against protesters who have occupied government offices for the past week in an attempt to topple the Prime Minister. The violence flared near Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium which was hosting a rally by thousands of Red Shirts, who support the embattled premier. The Red Shirts - who also back Yingluck's brother, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - had gathered en masse to ward off any coup attempt against the government. Police called for military backup to protect the parliament and Yingluck's office. Demonstrators briefly occupied the headquarters of the army on Friday, urging it to join them in a complex power struggle centred on the enduring political influence of Yingluck's billionaire brother. The tension heightens a nearly decade-long conflict that broadly pits Thailand's traditional establishment of top generals, royalists and the urban middle class against the mostly rural, northern supporters of Thaksin.