Foreign Minister Leaves for Security Council Talks

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Friday, 11 February 2011

via CAAI

Photo: AP

A Cambodian army soldier sits at damaged Cambodia's 11th century Hindu Preah Vihear temple.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Friday left Cambodia for New York, where he is scheduled to address UN Security Council officials over deadly border fighting with Thailand last week.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on the Security Council to intervene in what has become a protracted, sometimes violent border standoff.

The latest clash, which was the most intense, involved artillery and tank exchanges and left at least 10 people dead.

Hor Namhong is scheduled to address the Security Council along with his Thai and Indonesian counterparts on Monday.

Indonesia, which is the current head of Asean, is attempting to mediate the ongoing dispute, which centers around a small stretch of land next to Preah Vihear temple, a Unesco World Heritage site that was damaged in fighting over the weekend.