Thai PM chair meeting to consider World Court's ruling

BANGKOK, July 19 (MCOT online news) -- Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday will chair a meeting of security concerned agencies to discuss the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court ruling on the Thai-Cambodian border dispute.

Mr Abhisit had invited representatives of security-concerned agencies including the armed forces, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security Council, the secretary-general of the Council of State and the secretariat of the Cabinet to the meeting.

It was expected that the meeting would consider the provisional measures issued by the ICJ, the highest UN court, focusing on the possible impact against Thai domestic law.

The UN court on Monday turned down Cambodia's demand for a unilateral Thai pullback, and Thailand's demand for Cambodia's request to be removed from the court's consideration was unanimously rejected.

The World Court ordered Thailand and Cambodia to immediately withdraw all military personnel currently present in the provisional demilitarised zone, as defined by the court, and to refrain from any military presence within that zone and from any armed activity directed at it.

Thailand was ordered not obstruct Cambodia’s free access to the temple, or to prevent it from providing fresh supplies to its non-military personnel.

According to the court's decision, Thailand and Cambodia must continue their cooperation within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and, in particular, allow observers appointed by that organization to have access to the provisional demilitarised zone.

Thailand and Cambodia must refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court nor make it more difficult to resolve. The two countries were also ordered to revive their stalled talks to resolve the conflicts.

In the meantime, Thailand and Cambodia must each inform the court as to its compliance with the provisional measures until a decision on Cambodia's main request for interpretation of the 1962 order is finalised, which is expected to take the court several months.

Cambodia asked the court to clarify and interpret its ruling on Preah Vihear temple in 1962, in which the court ruled the ancient Hindu temple belonged to Cambodia but did not define the boundaries in the area surrounding the structure.

The Thai Foreign Ministry stated that the court’s order on provisional measures and the provisional demilitarised zone would not prejudice the court’s judgement to be made concerning Cambodia’s request for the interpretation of the 1962 Judgement regarding the Preah Vihear temple and would not affect Thailand’s territory sovereignty and integrity.

In a related development, the French news agency Agence-France-Presse (AFP) reported that the United States had renewed its call for Thailand and Cambodia to resolve their border rift peacefully after the UN's highest court ordered the countries to pull troops from the disputed area.

It quoted US State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke Fulton as saying that "the United States has consistently called upon both sides to continue dialogue and exercise maximum restraint in order to peacefully resolve their disputes and strengthen regional stability."

The United States also voiced support for the efforts by Indonesia, current chair of ASEAN, to mediate between the two members of the bloc.