Bangkok - Anti-government protestors on Tuesday agreed to allow flights to resume at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport, which they have held hostage for a week, but they refused to end their protests at the facility, media reports said.

The agreement was announced by Somkiat Pongpaibool, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, chairman of the Airports of Thailand (AoT), following their meeting Tuesday afternoon, said The Nation online news service.

Flights will resume after AoT technical officials check the technical readiness of all systems, said Somkiat.

Bangkok, Dec. 2 : A court in Thailand has dissolved the ruling People Power Party and banned Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from office for five years.

"As the court decided to dissolve the People Power Party, therefore the leader of the party and party executives must be banned from politics for five years," The Telegraph quoted Chat Chonlaworn, head of the nine-judge court panel, as saying.

"The court had no other option," he added.

Under Thailand’s Constitution, written by a military government last year, any political party in which a single executive member is convicted of election fraud must be entirely dissolved and all party executives banned from politics.

BANGKOK, Dec. 2 - Thailand's anti-government protest turned ugly Tuesday as a protester died in a grenade blast at Bangkok's domestic Don Muang airport, authorities said.

The grenade was fired into the inbound passenger terminal building of the airport, injuring 22 others, Bangkok Nation reported.

The facility, along with the international Suvarnabhumi airport, has been occupied by protesters led by People's Alliance for Democracy group demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's government, which is seen only as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a military coup in 2006.

Wellington - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced Tuesday that he had ordered an air force transport plane to fly to South-east Asia in preparation for a mercy mission to rescue New Zealanders stranded in Bangkok.

Key told a news conference that the Hercules C130 would go to Singapore or Malaysia on Wednesday and be put on stand by to fly to the Thai military airbase of U-Tapao, about 150 kilometres east of Bangkok.

He said he was not satisfied that up to 300 New Zealanders believed to be stranded by the anti-government protest which has closed Bangkok's international airport for a week would be able to leave by commercial carriers.

Wellington - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced Tuesday that he had ordered an air force transport plane to fly to South-East Asia in preparation for a mercy mission to rescue New Zealanders stranded in Bangkok.

Key told a news conference that the Hercules C130 would go to Singapore or Malaysia on Wednesday and be put on standby to fly to the Thai military airbase of U-Tapao, about 150 kilometres east of Bangkok.

Bangkok - Hundreds of pro-government demonstrators wearing red shirts and carrying clubs rallied against the convening of the Thai Constituion Court Tuesday to prevent the reading of a verdict expected to lead to political changes and perhaps more turmoil.

The nine judges on the case shifted the trial to the Administrative Court building in northern Bangkok to avoid a gathering of the pro-government Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD), who had planned to gather outside the Constitution Court in an effort to block the verdict.

Even so, the Administrative Court was quickly surrounded by more than 1,000 DAAD members. The court was under the protection of Thai Army troops armed with M16 rifles.