Mr Somchai, 61, will not take office until he is endorsed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a process that could take several days. However, anti-government protesters who have occupied the grounds of the prime minister’s offices for three weeks have already vowed to continue their rally to force Mr Somchai from power.

The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a British jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej had previously said he would not use force to push out thousands of protesters who have occupied the main government complex since last week, but after the worst street clashes in more than a decade said it was now time for them to go. “I did it to solve the problems of the country,” Mr Samak said in a televised news conference. “Because the situation turned out this way, I had no other choice.”

Thousands of protesters, many of them demonstrating against the war in Iraq, marched on Monday through the streets outside the arena where the Republican National Convention is being held, with some smashing windows and battling with the police in clashes that led to more than 250 arrests.

The protesters abseiled down the front of the building and hung a banner reading “Free Tibet” in Chinese and English. Chinese security officers tried to stop journalists from filming the event.

Uniformed police pounced on John Ray, the China correspondent for Independent Television News (ITN), shortly after the ‘Students for a Free Tibet’ group unfurled the protest banner, the reporter and another ITN staff member said. Mr. Ray was released a short time later, but without his equipment.

Edward Romero is being sought by Chinese authorities for painting two upscale Beijing hotel rooms with anti-oppression slogans like, “Speak out for those who have no voice,” and “Beijing 2008 Our world Our nightmare.”