Cambodia seeks arbitration in land dispute

AP - Tuesday, October 13
(Post by CAAI News Media)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Cambodia said Monday it will ask Southeast Asian leaders at an upcoming summit to help resolve a heated border dispute with Thailand that has sparked gunbattles, protests and fears of a cross-border war.

However, Thailand said the proposal for the talks was based on remarks last week by its foreign minister that had been misunderstood and misreported.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he backed a proposal by his Thai counterpart that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations set up an arbitration body to help resolve dueling claims to land near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry responded that Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya had not made such a suggestion, and that remarks he made on the issue were misquoted and taken out of context.

The ministry said in a statement that Thailand "will continue to seek a peaceful resolution of the problem through bilateral negotiations."

"As such, this issue should not be internationalized or raised within the ASEAN framework," it said.

ASEAN leaders meet Oct. 23-25 in Thailand for the 10-nation bloc's annual summit.

Preah Vihear temple sits on a cliff in a disputed border zone between Thailand and Cambodia. It has been a source of tension and fueled nationalist sentiment on both sides of the border for decades.

Last year, UNESCO backed Cambodia's bid to list the temple as a World Heritage Site. Thailand initially supported the bid but then reneged after the move sparked domestic outrage and protests. Some Thais worried that the distinction would undermine their claims to surrounding land.

Both sides rushed troops to the border, which resulted in several small gunbattles and briefly sparked concerns of war.

In 1962, the World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia, but sovereignty over adjacent areas has never been clearly resolved.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned last month that anyone who illegally enters Cambodian territory near the temple will be shot.

Hor Namhong, saying the issue is one of regional concern, responded Monday to Thai news reports that Kasit had said last week that he would seek approval at the ASEAN summit for the establishment of a neutral organization to settle disputes among members.

"I would like to propose that the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand in the area of the temple of Preah Vihear be included in the agenda of the ASEAN summit," he said in a statement sent to Kasit.

But the Thai Foreign Ministry then issued its statement saying that Kasit had been misunderstood.

It said that while Kasit had suggested that ASEAN should promote the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the issue of a dispute settlement mechanism would be discussed at the ASEAN summit, that Thailand would continue to seek to resolve its border dispute with Cambodia through bilateral talks.

The two countries share a 500-mile (800-kilometer) land border, much of which has never been clearly demarcated because the countries refer to different maps.