Thai criminal court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for 14 protest leaders including ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai media reported.

Thai-language newspaper Thairath said on its website that other leaders on the list includes Natthawut Saikua, Veera Musigapong, Jatuporn Promphan and Suporn Atthawong, leaders of the protestors.

Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, Veera told protesters at the Government House to disperse, Channel 11 reported.

The voluntary dispersal was not a failure of the red-shirted movement but was aimed at protecting the life of the protesters, he said.

The surrender came after a 20-day turmoil in Bangkok since March 26, when the red-shirts led by the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) began to rally to push Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign.

Abhisit last Sunday declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and some districts of five nearby provinces, citing the escalating violence of the protests, which on Saturday forced the then-ongoing ASEAN summit and related summits to be canceled.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2009)