Pessimism as Cambodia-Thai border talks begin

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AFP) — Senior defence officials from Thailand and Cambodia will meet Monday to try and resolve a week-long military standoff on their border, but pessimism has clouded the talks.

As more than 500 Thai and 1,000 Cambodian troops face off in a patch of disputed land near an ancient temple , Thai Supreme Commander General Boonsrang Niumpradit will sit down in an eastern Thai border town with Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh to try and hammer out a resolution.

Both countries have expressed willingness to peacefully diffuse the territorial dispute in which weapons were briefly drawn last week, but there appears to be little room for diplomatic manoeuvring.

Brigadier Chea Keo, commander of the Cambodian forces in the disputed area, said Sunday he had little faith in the talks because Thailand insisted that the land near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple was inside their country.

Cambodia maintains that Thai troops are trespassing on their territory.

"We have very little hope about the negotiations," Chea Keo said.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, meanwhile, said on his weekly Sunday television show that negotiations would not be easy since both countries were sticking to their original positions.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia. But the most accessible entrance to the Khmer ruins lies in Thailand, and 4.6 square kilometres (1.8 square miles) of the surrounding land remains in dispute.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said they had sent a letter to the United Nations to try and draw attention to what they say is an illegal Thai incursion, but insisted they were committed to Monday's talks.

"We will try to do our best to resolve the situation peacefully and bilaterally," he told AFP.

Recent tensions between the neighbours began with Cambodia's moves to have Preah Vihear -- which the World Court in 1962 said belonged to Cambodia -- listed as a United Nations World Heritage Site.

UN cultural body UNESCO earlier this month finally granted heritage status to the Hindu temple perched on a mountaintop, sparking an outcry from nationalist groups in Thailand who are battling Samak's government.

Thailand historically laid claim to the temple itself, but the dispute is now focused on the surrounding land.

The situation boiled over after three Thai protesters were arrested on Tuesday for jumping a fence to reach the temple. Troops headed to the border, and on Thursday witnesses said they had pointed their guns at each other.

Both sides have set up around a small Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of Preah Vihear.

The standoff is of great national importance to both countries.

Cambodia is preparing for general elections on July 27, and Prime Minister Hun Sen has portrayed the UN recognition of the ruins as a national triumph, organising huge public celebrations.

Thailand remains in the grip of anti-government protests, with its cabinet threatened by impeachment proceedings.

The territorial dispute has long dogged relations between the two countries, which were last strained in 2003 when rioters burned and looted Thailand's embassy and several Thai-owned businesses in Phnom Penh after a row over Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple.

Cambodian Official Says 'Little Hope' for Fast Resolution of Border Dispute

By Liam Cochrane, VOA
Preah Vihear, Cambodia
20 July 2008

Click here to listen to Cochrane report

The border standoff between Cambodia and Thailand remains tense ahead of high-level talks on Monday. A commander on the Cambodian side expressed doubts that the talks will lead to a resolution of the dispute over ownership of an ancient temple complex. Liam Cochrane reports from Preah Vihear temple, on the Cambodia-Thai border.

Thai and Cambodian soldiers sit side-by-side on the Cambodian road that leads to the disputed ruins of Preah Vihear temple.

Hundreds of Cambodian soldiers and military police patrolled the area around the temple, while Thai soldiers stayed close to the barbed wire that marks the jungle border, setting up small camps on the Cambodian side.

The two forces have faced off for several days, after three Thai protesters were detained for illegally crossing the closed border, prompting Thai forces to cross after them.

The 900-year-old Hindu temple was recently given World Heritage status, renewing a decades-old dispute over who owns the temple.

Brigadier Chea Keo is the deputy commander of the Cambodian Military Region. Sitting on a cliff overlooking Thailand, he said he had orders to be patient, but expressed doubts that talks Monday between the two countries' defense ministers would yield results.

He says, "We have little hope for the meeting tomorrow, because the Thai government sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen saying that the places occupied [by Thai soldiers] are Thai territory."

Brigadier Chea Keo said around 300 Thai troops remained around a modern temple just below the ancient ruins of Preah Vihear temple. He said a further 200 Thai soldiers occupied small camps along the Cambodian side of the border.

Cambodian officials would not say how many troops they had gathered in the area, but one soldier said 500 former Khmer Rouge fighters had been brought in from the northwest, and hundreds of military personnel were visible.

Thailand calls for talks, but Cambodia not optimistic

A Cambodian soldier on guard near a pagoda at the Thai-Cambodia border
Buddhist monks pass Cambodian soldiers near the Thai-Cambodia border

"The only choice for Cambodia is no negotiation unless Thais withdraw their military," SRP lawmaker Son Chhay

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AFP) — Thailand said Sunday that a military standoff with Phnom Penh over disputed land should be resolved through negotiations, but a top Cambodian general said he had little faith in talks.

More than 500 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers are stationed around a small Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.

Top defence officials plan to meet Monday in a bid to resolve the crisis, which comes amid political tensions in both countries, and only weeks after the temple was granted World Heritage status by the UN cultural agency UNESCO.

In his weekly television address, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said it would take time to resolve the dispute, but the commander of Cambodian forces in the disputed area said ongoing talks were fruitless.

"We have very little hope about the negotiations," Brigadier Chea Keo said on day six of the confrontation.

"We have only a little hope because the new Thai government has written a letter to our prime minister saying that the land they are stationed on belongs to them," he told reporters.

"We're on high alert," he added.

The dispute began after three Thai protesters were arrested on Tuesday for jumping a fence to reach the temple.

The standoff nearly erupted into violence late Thursday, when witnesses said troops pointed their guns at each other at the pagoda after 50 Cambodian troops entered the compound to protect food supplies for dozens of monks.

Samak said that it would take time and effort to defuse the standoff.

"The situation at no man's land needs negotiation," Samak said Sunday in his weekly address. "It has to be step-by-step ... They claim the area belongs to them. We claim it belongs to us."

Cambodia has sent letters about the standoff to the United Nations, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP.

"Cambodia's permanent mission at the United Nations has sent two letters -- one to the Security Council and another one to the chief of the UN General Assembly in order to draw attention about the situation," he said.

"After the Monday negotiations, we will decide what is the next step."

Cambodia's opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) on Sunday called for the government to withdraw its ambassador from Thailand and refuse to negotiate with their neighbours "as long as the Thai army remains on Cambodian territory".

"The only choice for Cambodia is no negotiation unless Thais withdraw their military," SRP lawmaker Son Chhay told reporters.

The renewed tensions on the border between Thailand and Cambodia come amid heightened political situations in both countries.

Cambodia is preparing for general elections on July 27, during which Prime Minister Hun Sen is expected to extend his decades-long grip on power.

He has portrayed the UN recognition of the ruins as a national triumph, organising huge public celebrations.

In Thailand, critics of Samak -- already the target of street protests against his months-old government -- have stoked the temple controversy to fire up nationalist sentiment.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia. But the most accessible entrance to the Khmer ruins lies in Thailand and 4.6 square kilometres (1.8 square miles) of the surrounding land remains in dispute.

Cambodia: Little hope for Thai talks

By SOPHENG CHEANG

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian general said Sunday that he has little hope that upcoming talks between his government and Thailand will resolve a tense border dispute that has seen hundreds of troops face off around an ancient temple.

Cambodian Brig. Gen. Chea Keo said Thai troops have deployed an artillery piece about half a mile northeast of Preah Vihear temple — the latest escalation ahead of Monday's meeting aimed at averting a military confrontation.

"Regarding the talks tomorrow, we have little hope about the outcome," Chea Keo said.

He said the reason for his pessimism stems from a recent counterclaim by Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej that the area around a Buddhist pagoda near the historic temple belongs to Thailand. Thai troops have been stationed at the pagoda since Tuesday.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote a letter to Samak on Thursday saying relations had been "worsening" since Thai troops "encroached on our territory," and asked him to pull them back.

Responding to his Cambodian counterpart, Samak said the area around the pagoda referred to in the letter "is within the Thai territory," according to a statement Saturday from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

While urging both sides to exercise restraint, Samak's letter said the settlement of Cambodians in that area constitutes "a continued violation of Thailand's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Despite their pledge to hold talks Monday in Thailand to try to defuse the tensions, both Cambodia and Thailand have massed troops at the site.

"We continue to be on alert at all time. And at the same time, we keep instructing our soldiers to be patient and avoid being blamed for starting a war," Chea Keo said Sunday.

The conflict over territory surrounding Preah Vihear temple escalated when UNESCO recently approved Cambodia's application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site. Thai activists fear the new status will undermine Thailand's claim to nearby land since the border has never been demarcated.

Troops from the opposing forces were on the brink of a shoot-out Thursday night, which was avoided when Cambodians retreated from a site occupied by the Thais.

But opposing commanders and their troops have otherwise tried to defuse tensions, sometimes even sharing meals, snapping photographs and sleeping within easy sight of one another.

The dispute has taken a toll on tourism in the area, with the Thai side closed to visitors. It also is starting to hurt economic relations between the two neighbors.

Associated Press writers Ambika Ahuja in Bangkok, Thailand, and Ker Munthit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report.