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Nov 9, 2009
AFP

BANGKOK - THAILAND has prepared extradition papers for Thaksin Shinawatra ahead of the fugitive former premier's diplomatically tense visit to neighbouring Cambodia this week, a government prosecutor said on Monday.

Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and now lives abroad to avoid a jail term for graft, sparked a furious row between Bangkok and Phnom Penh last week by accepting a position as economic adviser to Cambodia's government.

The billionaire telecommunications tycoon is due to make a speech to Cambodian economics experts at the country's finance ministry on Thursday, sparking calls from Thailand for Cambodia to extradite him.

'We have extradition papers ready but our documents must be approved by the attorney general after we receive a request by the foreign ministry or police,' Mr Sirasak Tiypan of the Thai attorney general's office told AFP.

'The papers are the same we have sent to Fiji, Nicaragua and the United Arab Emirates.' Thaksin was sentenced to two years jail in absentia in 2008 for abuse of power, a judgment that both he and his close friend, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, have described as politically motivated.

The Thai government said last week that it would seek Thaksin's extradition as soon as he set foot in Cambodia. But Cambodia has said it will reject any request to extradite Thaksin. Thailand says a refusal would violate international agreements and lead to further diplomatic measures.
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