Cambodia to move troops

Withdrawal from temple area would ease tensions

9/07/2012
Bangkok Post

Cambodia is expected to announce the withdrawal of troops from a demilitarised zone near Preah Vihear temple today.

The gesture is timed to coincide with the official start of the 45th Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting in Phnom Penh, military sources said.

The Cambodian troop withdrawal would represent a positive move towards improved relations between the two governments, observers said.

The Preah Vihear temple dispute is the legacy of the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration, and is the only thorny bilateral issue which the current government has had to address, the sources said.

Sporadic border conflicts have erupted over the territory near the Hindu temple since Unesco listed it as a World Heritage site on July 7, 2008.

Serious clashes took place in February and April last year.

Acting on Phnom Penh's complaint, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 18, 2011 ordered that Cambodia and Thailand immediately withdraw their troops from a 17.3 square kilometre demilitarised zone near the temple.

Cambodia's troop withdrawal announcement is expected to improve the country's image, observers said, as Phnom Penh hosts a series of meetings _ including the 19th Asean Regional Forum and the 2nd East Asian Summit, which will be attended by major global powers including China, Japan, the US and the EU.

The current Thai and Cambodian leaders share the view that troops should be moved from the disputed border area at Preah Vihear temple, sources said.

Thai diplomatic sources said they were not surprised about the possible troop withdrawal announcement by Cambodia, as it was not supposed to station troops in the area in the first place.

Several announcements of troop withdrawals had been made in the past, but in reality they were just redeployments of troops, the diplomats said.

Sources said Thai troops also adopted similar tactics.

The sources said that as a face-saving measure, the two sides could have implemented their joint demining programme in the area as a pretext for troop withdrawals.

The ICJ had also ordered both parties to allow Asean to send Indonesian observers to the area to monitor a ceasefire.

However, to date, neither Cambodia nor Thailand have withdrawn their troops from the demilitarised zone, and Indonesian observers have not been allowed to gain access to the area.

Cambodia last week accused Thailand of violating the ICJ's ruling by laying barbed wire inside the demilitarised zone.

The charge came two weeks after the countries submitted their final explanations to The Hague-based ICJ on June 21 clarifying their respective stances on Phnom Penh's request last year for the court to interpret its June 15, 1962, ruling on Preah Vihear temple.

In a note sent to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry accused Thai troops of laying barbed wire north of the entrance of Preah Vihear on June 23-25 despite its protests. Two gunshots were also heard from Thai positions on the night of June 26.

Thai soldiers also laid more barbed wire in the area on the morning of June 30, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry said.

Cambodia's deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong also sent a letter of complaint on Wednesday to Philippe Couvreur, registrar of the ICJ, accusing Thai soldiers of provoking tensions and adversely affecting the implementation of the ICJ's orders.