Violence fear as Thai general dies

Major General Khattiya Sawasdiphol, an army officer accused of breaking ranks and creating a paramilitary force for the red shirt protesters, died of gunshot wounds, according to doctors at the Vajira Hospital.

Maj Gen Khattiya died five days after he was shot in the head by a sniper in Bangkok while talking to journalists inside the perimeter of the protest zone.

The attack on the officer, who was known as Seh Daeng, triggered widespread street fighting between National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship protesters and the army in central Bangkok.

Soldiers have encircled the core protest site and cut off utilities to the area.

But some of the worst clashes on Sunday were behind the military cordon - an indication that the unrest is spreading.

In one working-class neighbourhood, several hundred demonstrators gathered under a motorway bridge and in small side streets, where they sheltered between clashes with nearby soldiers.

According to government figures, 65 people have died and more than 1,600 have been wounded since the UDD launched its protests in March.

The toll includes 36 killed, most of them civilians, and 266 wounded since Thursday.

Leaders of the UDD, who continue to demand the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the dissolution of parliament and new elections, have called on the UN to intervene to prevent more bloodshed.