General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said the military leadership would transform itself into a National Security Council to work alongside the new premier, who is expected to be named later this week. Newspapers meanwhile reported that former World Trade Organisation head Supachai Panitchpakdi has agreed to be Thailand's new prime minister.

"It's necessary to keep the council so that there is no loophole for the executive branch," he said in a telephone interview.

"Both the interim prime minister and the interim constitution will be ready in a day or two. Everything will proceed according to the original schedule," he added.

However, promises from army chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin to restore democracy within a year of last week's bloodless coup against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sounded like a re-run of a military putsch in 1991, analysts said.

After ousting prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless, late-night coup last Tuesday, Sonthi pledged the military would name a new premier within two weeks and draft a new constitution.

He also promised to hold elections in October 2007.

Speaking later to reporters, Sonthi said the military could have places in the new cabinet but that the generals would not interfere.

"The military will act as advisers to the interim government because there are still concerns about security issues, since we don't know yet what will happen," he said.

"We will not control the cabinet, we will just give them our expertise. I reaffirm that the junta will not be involved in politics."

Thaksin had been accused of abusing his office by placing relatives in key positions and overseeing massive electoral fraud to stay in power. He was also facing public anger over alleged widespread corruption.

Sonthi told AFP it was "75 percent confirmed" which person would become the new prime minister, adding that he had met for 45 minutes on Monday with the top adviser to Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Thailand's media has tipped former World Trade Organization boss Supachai Panitchpakdi as the military's preferred choice, with the Nation newspaper reporting he had tentatively agreed to take the job.

The king's endorsement of the generals is widely credited with helping to prevent violence after the country's first coup in 15 years.

The junta also tried to soothe market concerns by appointing a high-powered team of economic advisers Tuesday, headed by central bank chief Pridiyathorn Devakula.

One of the junta members, Lieutenant General Winai Phattiyakul, also tried to address international concerns in a British radio interview, describing the military takeover as "political change rather than a coup."

"We just tried to do the best for our country. Sometimes it is not easy for people from outside of the country to understand," he told BBC radio.

Since taking power, the generals have banned public gatherings, dismissed parliament, the cabinet and the highest courts, assumed legislative powers and slapped curbs on the media.

The junta has also stepped up corruption probes against Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon whose wealth was estimated at more than two billion dollars by Forbes magazine this year.

The ousted premier, who was at the UN General Assembly in New York when he was turfed out, is currently living in London.

Sonthi said the junta was in contact with Thaksin about whether he should return home, but doubted he would do so anytime soon.

"I think Thaksin can decide for himself. I think Thaksin may not come right now, because he can see that the situation is unstable," he added.

He reiterated that Thaksin would be allowed to return but warned he could face prosecution, saying: "Like everyone, he has to follow the law."

Among the cases being studied are the sale of bomb scanners for Bangkok's new three-billion-dollar Suvarnabhumi airport, which is due to open Thursday, an airport train link and the suspected misuse of lottery revenues and tsunami aid.

Another key focus will be Thaksin's tax-free January sale of his family's telecom empire to a Singapore state company for 1.9 billion dollars, sparking the months of turmoil that led up to his ouster.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the coup leaders to restore democracy "very, very quickly."

"The biggest problem is that in a Southeast Asia that was pretty stable ... it's a U-turn," she told The Wall Street Journal, but added that she did not see it affecting the rest of the region.