Thai PM sacks ministers in Bird flu shake-up

The Thai prime minister fired his agriculture and defence ministers today as part of a high-level shake-up aimed at tackling a deadly outbreak of bird flu and a bloody separatist insurgency in the Muslim-dominated south.

The Cabinet reshuffle – Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s ninth since taking office in 2001 – also involved sacking or reassigning two deputy prime ministers and several junior officials, the government said.