THAI-CAMBODIAN TIES
REUTERS and BANGKOK POST
Hun Sen: Must stay as good neighbours |
Thailand and Cambodia must bury the hatchet in their dispute over the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday, further easing fears the spat would escalate into military confrontation.
''We must not bring our countries to war just because of disputes on our border,'' Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla who won re-election last month, said in a live TV broadcast.
''We need to stay together as good neighbours for tens of thousands of years to come. We need to narrow our disputes and maximise bilateral cooperation, including trade,'' he said, striking a very different tone from the nationalist rhetoric of his campaign trail last month.
Both countries have sent soldiers and artillery to lay claim to 4.6 square kilometres of scrub near the temple, which sits on the jungle-clad escarpment that separates the two countries.
The disputed area is between Kanthadhralak district in Si Sa Ket and Preah Vihear, the Cambodian province.
Talks between the countries' two foreign ministers the day after Cambodia's July 27 general election yielded pledges to sort out the spat peacefully, but both sides have been reluctant to be the first to withdraw troops for fear of being painted as weak.
Hun Sen said he hoped another meeting between the two foreign ministers in Thailand on Aug 18 would help narrow the differences.
He referred to the meeting of the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC).
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will also pay a courtesy call on His Majesty the King, Hun Sen said.
He also said Phnom Penh was ready to withdraw its troops, echoing a Thai cabinet decision on Tuesday to assign a regional military commander to discuss troop ''redeployment'' to calm tensions.
The spat erupted last month when protest groups trying to overthrow the Thai government attacked Bangkok's backing of Cambodia's bid to list the Preah Vihear temple as a United Nations World Heritage site.
Preah Vihear has been claimed by both sides for decades, but was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since.
The row spread at the weekend to Ta Moan Thom, a second ancient temple, on the border between Phanom Dong Rak district in Surin and Odday Meanchey in Cambodia.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat reaffirmed that the temple is on Thai soil and Cambodia mistook this as part of its territory due to a missing border marker.
Thailand protested to Cambodia on March 7 after seeing Cambodian tourist information claiming it was a group of ruins in Cambodia, he added. The information was based on a map made by Thailand and France, he added.
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