By Ek Madra
SIEM REAP, Cambodia (Reuters) - The Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers held talks on Monday to try to defuse a row over a 900-year-old temple that has raised fears of a military clash between the southeast Asian neighbours.
The meeting between Cambodia's Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart, Tej Bunnag, who was appointed after the resignation of his predecessor over the Preah Vihear spat, dragged on beyond schedule in the Cambodian tourist town of Siem Reap.
There was no word on progress although the atmosphere appeared to be tense, with the ministers failing to appear together before the media at any point during the day.
However, analysts hope Sunday's landslide victory by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) may give Phnom Penh scope to calm tensions in an imbroglio that has seen both sides order troops and artillery to dig in along the border.
The CPP, led by wily former Khmer Rouge soldier Hun Sen for the last 23 years, claimed to have won 90 of 123 seats in parliament, meaning it may be able to rule alone for the first time since elections organised by the United Nations in 1993.
The dispute with Thailand centres on 1.8 square miles (4.6 square km) of scrubland near the ancient Hindu temple, which sits on the jungle-clad escarpment that forms the natural boundary between the two countries.
The International Court of Justice awarded the ruins to Cambodia in 1962 in a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since. The court did not rule on the disputed bits of land lying nearby.
With troops and artillery building up on both sides of the border, Cambodia has threatened to take the spat to the U.N. Security Council. Thailand wants all talks with its smaller neighbour to remain strictly two-way.
"Attempts to bring the bilateral issue to broader frameworks at this stage could complicate the situation and in turn, produce undesirable repercussions on the good relations and goodwill," Tej said in a statement on Sunday.
CONFLICTING MAPS
Negotiations a week ago between top military officials quickly descended into an argument over which of several maps drawn up in the last 100 years should be used to settle ownership of the temple and its surroundings.
General Chea Mon, a Cambodian commander at the temple, said both he and Thai officers had ordered a halt to the digging of trenches and bunkers for the duration of the talks, but made clear that any pull-back was out of the question.
"We are still in a military stand-off," he told Reuters.
The dispute flared when street protesters in Bangkok trying to oust the Thai government seized on its approval of Phnom Penh's bid to list the ruins as a World Heritage site, and the election campaign in Cambodia ensured the row quickly escalated.
Even though the election has passed, there is still a risk of the row taking on a life of its own, with ordinary Cambodians organising collections of cash, food and clothing in the capital to send to troops on the border.
In 2003, a nationalist mob torched the Thai embassy and several Thai-owned businesses in Phnom Penh after erroneous reports of comments from a Thai soap opera star suggesting Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat actually belonged to Thailand.
The meeting between Cambodia's Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart, Tej Bunnag, who was appointed after the resignation of his predecessor over the Preah Vihear spat, dragged on beyond schedule in the Cambodian tourist town of Siem Reap.
There was no word on progress although the atmosphere appeared to be tense, with the ministers failing to appear together before the media at any point during the day.
However, analysts hope Sunday's landslide victory by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) may give Phnom Penh scope to calm tensions in an imbroglio that has seen both sides order troops and artillery to dig in along the border.
The CPP, led by wily former Khmer Rouge soldier Hun Sen for the last 23 years, claimed to have won 90 of 123 seats in parliament, meaning it may be able to rule alone for the first time since elections organised by the United Nations in 1993.
The dispute with Thailand centres on 1.8 square miles (4.6 square km) of scrubland near the ancient Hindu temple, which sits on the jungle-clad escarpment that forms the natural boundary between the two countries.
The International Court of Justice awarded the ruins to Cambodia in 1962 in a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since. The court did not rule on the disputed bits of land lying nearby.
With troops and artillery building up on both sides of the border, Cambodia has threatened to take the spat to the U.N. Security Council. Thailand wants all talks with its smaller neighbour to remain strictly two-way.
"Attempts to bring the bilateral issue to broader frameworks at this stage could complicate the situation and in turn, produce undesirable repercussions on the good relations and goodwill," Tej said in a statement on Sunday.
CONFLICTING MAPS
Negotiations a week ago between top military officials quickly descended into an argument over which of several maps drawn up in the last 100 years should be used to settle ownership of the temple and its surroundings.
General Chea Mon, a Cambodian commander at the temple, said both he and Thai officers had ordered a halt to the digging of trenches and bunkers for the duration of the talks, but made clear that any pull-back was out of the question.
"We are still in a military stand-off," he told Reuters.
The dispute flared when street protesters in Bangkok trying to oust the Thai government seized on its approval of Phnom Penh's bid to list the ruins as a World Heritage site, and the election campaign in Cambodia ensured the row quickly escalated.
Even though the election has passed, there is still a risk of the row taking on a life of its own, with ordinary Cambodians organising collections of cash, food and clothing in the capital to send to troops on the border.
In 2003, a nationalist mob torched the Thai embassy and several Thai-owned businesses in Phnom Penh after erroneous reports of comments from a Thai soap opera star suggesting Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat actually belonged to Thailand.
2 comments:
Then Cambodian government should go back to the UN. We are not going to discuss with the Thai until they are happy. We know what they want and they will not have it.
Anyway the Thai will always tells the reporters that the troops are enjoying themselves and partying all night.
So go back to the UN if they don't want to intervene, then they are not wearing their pants either.
Then have to move the Thai out of our territory by ourselves.
Cambodia cannot put its territory at stake and wait to see if the Thai is clever enough to bend the International Law and take the land.
look! questions should not be which maps to use to demarcate the borderline or whatever, the map has been demarcated already based on the treaty of 1907, period. it is thailand that violated the international treaty or law that govern any international treaty, regardless the treaty was one hundred years old or two hundred years old or whatever. the bottomline was that the treaty was concluded and lawfully binding and don't expect cambodia to just toss it away and bend to the illegal thai demand of their unilaterally redrawn map of whatever. this is why we have this problem. thailand needs to stop violating the treaty of 1907 and the icj verdict, period. don't talk with them anymore, cambodia, just take it directly to the UN council and the icj again for thailand's violation of the international law and their contempt of court. case closed!!!! it's not about thailand, it about doing the right thing with respect to a treaty that was signed by both gov't and was ratified into law since, and for thailand to unilaterally redrew the very map that this treaty produced in a real violation of the international law and don't expect cambodia agree to that. we won't!!!!! didn't thailand lose the icj verdict? of course!!!! so there!!! the answer to this problem!!!!
i can't wait to hear what the UN council has to say about thailand's violation of the international law. if cambodia has to take them to court again, this time the treaty 1907 will be required to be added to the thai constitution so their unruly people can learn from it and respect the international law!! god bless cambodia.
Post a Comment