Thai talks fall apart amid fears for polls

The three-hour meeting was the first time that representatives of Thaksin's party, the main opposition parties, and the organisers of mass street protests against him have held any sort of negotiations.

Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party proposed that a neutral mediator moderate talks behind closed doors to end the political crisis but insisted that the premier's rivals accept the results of April 2 snap elections, officials said.

"We can't accept the government's condition that we have to accept the result of the coming election," said Suriyasai Katasila, a spokesman for the People's Alliance for Democracy, which has organised the protests aiming to oust Thaksin for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

The three main opposition parties are boycotting the election, and hundreds of candidates from small parties have been disqualified for failing to meet minimum requirements.

"Joint discussions, with the conditions set by the government, would be meaningless and the Thai people would not get anything from it," Suriyasai said.

The opposition and the protest organisers wanted Thaksin to agree to a televised debate on Friday to settle their differences, but the premier has insisted that all talks take place behind closed doors.

"We think that the debate set for March 24 would not benefit the new election so the government decided not to join the debate," government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said.

The meeting came amid rising concerns over the snap polls less than two weeks away. The lack of candidates means the election could fail to produce a new parliament.