Mr Sondhi told a news conference the PAD would start pulling out at 10am (11am Singapore time). He also called a conditional halt to the PAD's political rallies.

'The People's Alliance for Democracy has agreed to cease protesting after a long-running 192-day campaign. We have won a victory and achieved our aims,' said Mr Sondhi, reading a statement to reporters.

But Mr Sondhi warned that demonstrators would return to the streets if other allies of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, returned to power.

'The PAD is ready to take to streets if people from the Thaksin regime return or if there is any government that tries to amend constitution and curtail the power of the monarchy,' Mr Sondhi said.

Meanwhile, a statement released said the closure of the Suvarnabhumi airport for passenger flights 'is extended to 6 pm (7pm Singapore time) on Dec 15.'

However, Thailand's airports operator will decide only on Wednesday how soon flights can resume from Bangkok's main airports after protesters agreed to end a week-long blockade, an official said on Tuesday.

'By tomorrow afternoon, I should be able to issue a statement on when we return to normal,' Mr Serirat, acting head of Airports of Thailand, said.

Mr Serirat said the airport was reopened to cargo flights on Tuesday.

Anti-government demonstrators agreed earlier on Tuesday to allow flights to resume from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport after a week-long blockade, a protest leader said.

'As of this moment the PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy) has allowed flights to take off and land immediately, both passenger and cargo flights,' senior alliance member Somkiat Pongpaiboon said.

Thailand's airport authority confirmed there was an agreement with protesters, saying flights may be able to resume if there are no 'technical problems'.

'They're going to leave now,' he told AFP-TV.

'We have reached an agreement with PAD to start clearing protesters from the passenger zone to reopen Suvarnabhumi Airport,' said Mr Vudhihaandhu Vichairatama, chairman of the board of Airports of Thailand.

'But how soon depends on technical issues. If there is no technical problem the first flights would resume within 24 hours,' Mr Vudhihaandhu said.

All equipment at the airport would have to be checked over before full airport operations could resume, he said.

The airport seizure has stranded 350,000 passengers and caused massive economic losses to the kingdom.

Ealier on Tuesday leaders of the protest movement said they will hold a meeting, after a court dissolved Thailand's ruling party, but said they are unlikely to lift their blockade, an official said.

Anti-government demonstrators took over the capital's international and domestic airports last week, saying that they would not leave until Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and his government resigned.

Thailand's constitutional court on Tuesday barred Mr Somchai from politics for five years and disbanded the three main parties in the ruling coalition.

But the ruling coalition party said after the verdict that it planned to regroup under a new name and continue to stay in government.

'The leaders will meet again and will have a press conference this afternoon,' said Mr Sirichai Maingam, a senior member of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) anti-government movement.

PAD supporters on Monday began ending a three-month sit-in at Government House, where the prime minister's cabinet offices are located, and began redeploying at the airports.

While the Constitutional Court ruling set the stage for thousands of protesters to end their weeklong siege of the country's two main airports, it also raised fears of retaliatory violence by a pro-government group that could sink the country deeper into crisis and cripple its economy.

Hundreds of Mr Somchai's supporters gathered outside the court to express their anger, saying the swiftness of the ruling - the closing arguments ended earlier on Tuesday - reeked of predetermination. At one point they cut off the power supply to the court, but electricity was restored with diesel generators.

'The court is not qualified to make this ruling. They are nothing more than apologists for the alliance, who are ruining the country,' said a speaker, shouting through a megaphone. -- AFP, AP, REUTERS