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Thai protesters resume siege of PM’s offices

Anti-government protesters climb a gate of prime minister's office, known as Government House for remove barbed wire in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. Protesters waging a surreal political fight to oust Thailand's elected prime minister are trying to establish what amounts to a parallel government - one complete with "security volunteers" to replace the police, a foreign policy of their own and a central committee that has already begun issuing audacious orders.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

BANGKOK (AP) — Protesters in Thailand’s capital cut off electricity to the prime minister’s office compound on Thursday and demanded that police abandon the premises.

Anti-government protesters climb a gate of prime minister’s office, known as Government House for remove barbed wire in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. Protesters waging a surreal political fight to oust Thailand’s elected prime minister are trying to establish what amounts to a parallel government – one complete with “security volunteers” to replace the police, a foreign policy of their own and a central committee that has already begun issuing audacious orders.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

The opposition-backed protesters, seeking to force the replacement of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government before a Feb. 2 election, have threatened to force their way in if police don’t leave.

The prime minister was not in her offices at the time and shortly afterward gave a televised address from an unidentified location in which she announced a Dec. 15 meeting of all sectors of society to try to find a solution to the crisis.

The protest leadership has demanded a meeting with senior military and police officials, a call which has so far been rebuffed, at least publicly.

In a previous confrontation, police withdrew from the compound to allow the demonstrators in without a fight. That withdrawal came after two days of increasingly violent standoffs.

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