Phnom Penh (dpa)
A Cambodian official at Preah Vihear temple confirmed Saturday that Thai troops had stood down from a nearby disputed pagoda as a delegation of international military attaches from Vietnam and China flew in by helicopter at Cambodia's request.
A Cambodian government official - speaking on condition of anonymity - confirmed local television reports that Thai troops allegedly stationed at a Cambodian pagoda within a few hundred metres of Preah Vihear temple had moved camp to a jungle clearing.
On Saturday Cambodia's Defence Ministry flew military attaches from China and Vietnam to the temple to view a border dispute first hand, local station CTN said.
The Khmer-language private television station said the delegation was headed by Cambodian armed forces chief Sao Sokha. The official said Thai troops had now moved back.
Thailand has maintained the temple is in a disputed no-man's-land and that a Thai presence in the area was not breaching Cambodian sovereignty. Cambodia disagreed and asked for the tour by international observers.
CTN is viewed as close to the Cambodian government.
Although other international attaches including the US were originally rumoured to be attending, in the end they were supplied by the two Communist nations, which are also closest regional allies.
Tensions have been running high on the border since Cambodia asked UNESCO to list the temple as a World Heritage Site despite there being a dispute over a 4.6-kilometre swathe of land nearby.
UNESCO obliged earlier this month, but tensions spilled over Tuesday when Cambodia briefly detained, then released, three Thais it said had illegally crossed the border, prompting first dozens, and then hundreds of Thai troops to follow in an alleged incursion.
On Friday, Thailand warned the situation was deteriorating but Cambodia has said it is determined to seek a diplomatic solution over the disputed territory around the 11th century Hindu temple.
A Cambodian government official - speaking on condition of anonymity - confirmed local television reports that Thai troops allegedly stationed at a Cambodian pagoda within a few hundred metres of Preah Vihear temple had moved camp to a jungle clearing.
On Saturday Cambodia's Defence Ministry flew military attaches from China and Vietnam to the temple to view a border dispute first hand, local station CTN said.
The Khmer-language private television station said the delegation was headed by Cambodian armed forces chief Sao Sokha. The official said Thai troops had now moved back.
Thailand has maintained the temple is in a disputed no-man's-land and that a Thai presence in the area was not breaching Cambodian sovereignty. Cambodia disagreed and asked for the tour by international observers.
CTN is viewed as close to the Cambodian government.
Although other international attaches including the US were originally rumoured to be attending, in the end they were supplied by the two Communist nations, which are also closest regional allies.
Tensions have been running high on the border since Cambodia asked UNESCO to list the temple as a World Heritage Site despite there being a dispute over a 4.6-kilometre swathe of land nearby.
UNESCO obliged earlier this month, but tensions spilled over Tuesday when Cambodia briefly detained, then released, three Thais it said had illegally crossed the border, prompting first dozens, and then hundreds of Thai troops to follow in an alleged incursion.
On Friday, Thailand warned the situation was deteriorating but Cambodia has said it is determined to seek a diplomatic solution over the disputed territory around the 11th century Hindu temple.
5 comments:
I will vote for Hun Sen this time no doubt about it. Hun Sen, please draft at least one million army then you are my greatest hero.
Go Hun Sen, more soldier and train them to kill and drink blood of ah Thais.
I didn't like Hun Sen before now I support him.
GOD be with you Hun Sen.
From a former anti_Hun Sen
I want it to be true.
last time an official announced the detention of 170 thai troops but that wasnt true..
this story is still on bnagkok post but has been taken off on the nation.
wait and see.
Too early for me to give credit to Hun Sen.
Even then he shouldnt have let this happen. He shouldnt have allowed the thais to exclude the land from the temple in the request for PV listing.
He showed weakness and ignorance and the thais pounced on this.
I hope he has learnt his lesson for the good of cambodia.
"Thailand has maintained the temple is in a disputed no-man's-land"
The stupid siamese say the area around Preah Vihear is a "NO MAN'S LAND". These stupid animals do not know the neighborhood history. Khmer Empire was formed even before the sixth century. And it owned all the land which includes the whole land now called Thai's and Laos and Kampuchea Krom.
Stop relying on ah Siam BangCOCK Post, a LIAR. Ah Siam know only bang bang with his cock and the nest thing ah Siam know is all the women have cocks too. If you wnat Thai whore make sure youask her if she has cock or pucycat.
article in Cambodge soir:
The thais made A symboloique retreat of ten meters from the pagoda.
a sign that they want to appease the tension. around 1000 soldiers on each side face to face. The road leading to the site is filled with thai troops.
Despite all the show of friendliness the ancestral hatred remains.
an ex khmer rouge RACF soldier declares to the villagers: dont worry.We know what war is. They might have better uniforms but we have fought half our lives.They haven't.
Plus their M16 is worthless in the jungle whereas a AK47 is deadly.
End of quotation.
the combat continues we must pursue relentlessly the ouster of thai from our territory.
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