PHNOM PENH, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia is willing to withdraw troops from the Provisional Demilitarized Zone (PDZ) surrounding the Preah Vihear Temple in the future in order to comply with the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a Cambodian senior official said Monday.
"Of course, we are willing to pull our troops out of the PDZ to abide by the ICJ's order," Koy Kuong, spokesman for Cambodia' s foreign ministry, said. "We do not announce the troop pullout today (July 9), but we will do it in the future and it will be good if Thailand is willing to do so in order to honor the Court' s order."
The spokesman's comments were made after The Bangkok Post online reported on Monday that Cambodia is expected to announce the withdrawal of troops from the PDZ near Preah Vihear temple today (July 9), citing anonymous Thai military sources.
Cambodia and Thailand have had sporadic border conflicts over territorial dispute near Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple since the UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008 and witnessed fierce clashes in February and April 2011 during Thailand's Democrat Party rule.
The ICJ ordered on July 18, 2011 that Cambodia and Thailand must immediately withdraw their military personnel from the PDZ and refrain from any armed activity directed at that zone.
Also, it ordered both parties to allow ASEAN observers ( Indonesians) to access to the zone to monitor ceasefire.
However, to date, neither Cambodia nor Thailand has withdrawn its troops from the 17.3 square kilometer PDZ.
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