BANGKOK (AP) -– Thailand's prime minister rallied thousands of campaign supporters Thursday at the scene of last year's deadly anti-government protests, defending his crackdown on demonstrators there as the best he could do under difficult circumstances.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva acknowledged the rally's location was symbolic but said it was not intended to stir unrest or division as some of his opponents alleged. More than 90 people died, mostly protesters, in the violence last year, some of the country's worst in 20 years.
""Some say we are adding fuel to fire. It's not true,"" Abhisit told his supporters at the street intersection that was the center of the protests just over a year ago. ""We brought the public here because this Ratchaprasong area, like every inch of Thailand, belongs to all Thais.
""I am here to tell Thailand that from July 3, we will move Thailand forward and restore the international community's confidence in Thailand,"" he added.
Some feared new violence, but the rally was peaceful. The opposition Pheu Thai party ordered its members to avoid the intersection where Abhisit spoke, in front of the CentralWorld shopping mall that was one of more than a dozen buildings set ablaze on the chaotic, final day of protests.