PHNOM PENH, Feb. 12 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The Cambodian government said Saturday that it has expressed its readiness to attend the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting to be held in Jakarta on Feb. 22 on the border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand.
Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong told Kyodo News that Cambodia replied to Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who is also the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, on the proposed meeting.
In the letter dated Friday, Marty proposed to ASEAN member states to hold an "Informal Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers" in Jakarta on Feb. 22 in the afternoon.
The letter proposed that the topic for discussion will be "regional and international issues," which is in reference to the current border row between Cambodia and Thailand -- both members of ASEAN.
If the meeting is accepted by all member states, especially the key party concerned, Thailand, it will be the second time with a third party's participation in the border conflict, which Cambodia insists upon.
At the appeal of the Cambodian government, the United Nations Security Council will convene its first meeting on the issue in New York next Monday.
The foreign ministers from the two nations are on the way there along with Marty Natalegawa.
Thailand has been insisting that the border resettlement will be continued at the bilateral level, but Cambodia said this mechanism will never work out, saying it had already failed despite many rounds of talks over the past two years.
The border row stemmed from the use of two different maps, and tension has heated up again recently, leading the situation to armed clashes, or even "real war" as Cambodia called it, following the latest four- day fighting that only ended on Monday. It resulted in the loss of at least eight lives and nearly 100 others injured including civilians from both sides.
The dispute occurs at the area near Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple which was registered as a World Heritage Site in July 2008.
5 comments:
Camboedia should stay focus on UNSC first, after the UNSC meeting then Cambodia can think about other way including ASEAN. Otherwise, this issue will be delayed forever. For now, let UNSC uses its power and efforts to solve this problem.
I agree. Cambodia must wait for the results and recommendations from the UNSC meeting whether ASEAN should get involved and what next if ASEAN fails to resolve. Thailand tries its best to minimise as small as possible of the internaitnal involvelment in this conflict. Thailand may feel that Thailand is the oldest member in ASEAN and can bully the rest members.
the problem with siem is that they used their own illegal, unilateral map to make illegal claim on area adjacent to cambodia's preah vihear temple, etc! international body should take a closer look at the 1907 map and siem's unilateral map, that the root of the conflict that fail to solved without using the rule of law! they should tolerate siem's bully on cambodia at all, really! siem has something to hide as they refused to go internationally all the time. if they have nothing to hide, they shouldn't be afraid to solve the issue openly with international mediation, international law, etc, etc...! people should start questioning siem on cambodia's behalf, instead of catering to siem's illegal demand and go with siem's bilateral talk or whatever. bilateral talk will go in circle as the real issue hasn't been looked at, you know! it's about doing what is right, lawfully, everything else is secondary to it!
Forget ASEAN...it will never be able to help resolve this border conflict. ASEAN member states are not expert negotiators nor they are mediators...these people do not understand the gravity of the conflict. The best course of action Khmer need to take is to hunker down and fight the thai aggression until they surrender and concede.
I totally agree with above comments. yes, Cambodian should not scheduled the ASEAN meeting. Camb. should wait after UN meeting on Monday, Feb. 14th.
BTW, which map is legit? Siem's or Cambodian's? I hope the UN will be examined the two maps closely before coming to any conclusions. This is way too complicated than I thought. Good Luck, Cambodian!!!!!
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