Thailand Imposed a 60-day State of Emergency Tuesday Jan 21,2014

Thailand on Tuesday Jan 21,2014 imposed a 60-day state of emergency in the capital and surrounding areas to quell violent anti-government protests aimed at forcing embattled premier Yingluck Shinawatra from office.

"The cabinet decided to invoke the emergency decree to take care of the situation and to enforce the law," Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said.

The emergency decree gives security agencies the power to impose curfew, search, detain and arrest suspects without charge, censor media, ban political gatherings of more than five people and declare parts of Bangkok off-limits

Caretaker Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said on TV that the government had to invoke the emergency decree because anti-government protests had turned violent

The decree came after weeks of mass rallies in Bangkok that sparked several bouts of violence, including grenade attacks and shootings that the protesters and the government blamed on each other.

Protesters, who have vowed to topple the Yingluck regime, have prevented officials from going to work by blockading parts of the city as they intensified their months-long agitation last week.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said there was no plan to give the army a leading role under the decree, which will come into force from Wednesday, January 22,2014