Saturday, 25 October 2008

Thai, Cambodian armies agree to ease border tensions

M&C Asia-Pacific News
Oct 24, 2008

Bangkok - Army officers representing Thailand and Cambodia on Friday agreed to ease border tensions around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, the site of a clash that claimed three lives earlier this month, state news reports said.

The tentative agreement between the two militaries was reached at the Thai-Cambodian Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting held in the Cambodian northwestern province of Siem Reap, reported the Thai News Agency (TNA). Sponsored Links:

Led by Thailand's Second Army Region commander Lieutenant General Wiboonsak Neepal and his Cambodian counterpart Fourth Army commander Lieutenant General Chea Mon, the two sides agreed to ease tensions 'to create peace and stability for people of the two countries living along the border,' said the TNA.

The negotiations, however, did not cover reducing the number of troops or reducing or eliminating heavy weapons at the border.

On October 15 Thai and Cambodian troops briefly clashed in a disputed zone near the Preah Vihear temple, leaving two Cambodians dead and several Thais wounded, one of whom died of his injuries in hospital.

The shootout occurred about 3 kilometres away from Phreah Vihear, an 11th century Hindu temple that has been the cause of many border disputes between the two neighbouring countries for almost five decades. Sponsored Links:

A similar skirmish occurred at the same site on October 3 that left two Thai soldiers and one Cambodian wounded. Thailand issued an official protest to the Cambodian government over the alleged border incursion.

Thailand and Cambodia nearly came to blows over the Preah Vihear temple in July, shortly after UNESCO named the ancient Hindu temple a World Heritage Site despite Thai objections.

The temple, the object of disputed claims between Thailand and Cambodia since the 1950s, was granted to Cambodia by a ruling of the International Court of Justice in 1962.

But land adjacent to the temple compound, including its main entrance on the Thai side, has been claimed by both countries. Sponsored Links:

Both sides beefed up their forces in the area, situated about 400 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, after some ultra-nationalist Thais crossed into the disputed zone in a protest against the UNESCO ruling.

The border conflict was calmed in August when both sides agreed to settle the matter through bilateral talks held by a joint border committee.

The talks were hampered by repeated claims of incursions into Cambodian territory and by Thailand's chaotic domestic political situation.

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