Pubdate: Tue, 11 May 2004 Source: Nation, The (Thailand) Copyright: 2004 Nation Multimedia Group Contact: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963 LIVERPOOL DEAL DRAWS CRITICISM FROM AI OVER HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERN LONDON, May 11 (AFP) - Thailand Prime Minister Thakshin Shinawatra's proposed investment in English Premiership side Liverpool has been criticised by human rights group Amnesty International because of what it says is his government's abuses of human rights. Shinawatra said Monday he was poised to buy a 30 percent stake in Liverpool, on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League, in a deal worth some 100 million dollars. However, Shinawatra, has been accused by Amnesty of leading a regime responsible for 2,245 deaths in a drugs crackdown last year. Amnesty spokesman Neil Durkin told Tuesday's edition of British broadsheet the Daily Telegraph: "Thailand's human rights record has been a particular concern recently following a government-led 'drugs war' that has seen several thousand drugs suspects killed by law enforcement officers. "In one three-month period alone last year, a staggering 2,245 people were killed according to official statistics. We have called on the Thai government to allow independent investigations into this worrying wave of killings." Steven Kelly, editor of Liverpool fanzine Through the Wind, also told the Telegraph that the club should stop dealing with Shinawatra. "There is going to be controversy about it. It's dragging morality down when the majority of people say 'As long as the team is good, I don't care'."