Sunday, 1 June 2008

Compromise cools Preah Vihear dispute

Courtesy of Phnom Penh Post

Written by Vong Sokheng
Friday, 30 May 2008

Cambodia has agreed to propose only the Preah Vihear temple as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and not the land around it, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said, ending a tug-of-war over the territory with Thailand that has stalled the temple’s listing. “Cambodia will list the ancient temple but the application will not address the [contested] territory,” Sok An told reporters on May 26 after returning from a meeting with Thai officials at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The World Court in 1962 determined that the 11th century Hindu temple, perched on an escarpment on the border with Thailand, belonged to Cambodia. Thailand, has claimed that the ruling did not decide who owned the surrounding land where the border was not settled. UNESCO’s World Heritage Unit is scheduled to approve the temple in July.

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