UN chief offers to mediate in Thai-Cambodia dispute

August, 20 2010
XINHUA/VNA/VNS

HA NOI — United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has showed his willingness to work as a mediator in the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute, the Cambodian media reported.

The deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary General, Farhan Haq, replied to an email from the Cambodian press on August 18 saying that, "The Secretary-General is willing to mediate situation when both sides request him to do so".

Last week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called for an international conference to seek a peaceful solution to the two-year-long dispute over the Preah Vihear temple which has world heritage status.

Hun Sen said that he would put forward the proposal to Ban Ki-moon as he plans to pay a two-day official visit to Cambodia in late October.

Cambodia 's Foreign Affairs spokesperson Koy Kuong also welcomed Ban Ki-moon's response to the border issue.

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Cam-bodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen are expected to meet when they attend the upcoming Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) early in October in Brussels, the Nation online reported yesterday.

ASEAN Secretary General Dr Surin Pitsuwan, who was on transit to Jakarta, Indonesia, on Wednesday, expressed the hope that the two leaders would take the opportunity in Belgium's capital to discuss bilateral issues of mutual concerns.

Premier Abhisit and Hun Sen will join the other Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN leaders to meet their European counterparts in Brussels, where the EU headquarters is situated.

In a related development, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban has reiterated that Thailand wants only bilateral talks with Phnom Penh to settle the border conflict.

Surin's revelation came after his trip to capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, early this week leading a Thai-Muslim delegation to visit Cambodian-Muslim community at the invitation of Hun Sen, the Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

RI Should Lead Efforts To Resolve Thai-Cambodian Dispute : Legislator

JAKARTA, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- As the biggest ASEAN member country, Indonesia should be taking the lead in efforts to resolve the escalating Thai-Cambodian border dispute, ANTARA news agency quoted a legislator as saying.

"Both Thailand and Cambodia are part of ASEAN and therefore we should not let other parties intervene in their conflict. I hope Indonesia will play an active and tangible role in efforts to overcome the problem," Yusron Ihza Mahendra, vice chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I, said here Friday.

Speaking to reporters one day after returning in Jakarta from a three-day visit in Cambodia, the Crescent Star Party (PBB) politician said the situation at the Thai-Cambodian border was tense and had a tendency to escalate.

"I was in Cambodia for three days and I saw that the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has a tendency to escalate if there is no intervention from a neutral party," he said.

Therefore, he expressed hope that the Indonesian government through its diplomatic instruments would immediately play an active and tangible role to resolve the conflict.

"Indonesia should be in the forefront . Do not let other countries outside ASEAN intervene," Mahendra said, adding that Jakarta needed to play a role in bringing Thailand and Cambodia to a negotiation table.

He said if the government deemed it necessary to send a peace-keeping force to the Thai-Cambodian border, the House Commission I would support it.

Surin Hopes Malaysia Will Help Resolve Thailand-Cambodia Border Dispute

SERDANG, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan hopes Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and his counterparts from Indonesia and Singapore will help to resolve the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia which erupted in deadly clashes this week.

"It is up to him at his level. I'm only the secretary-general. He (Rais) volunteered to do his best and would consult his colleagues.

"I appreciate this very much," he told reporters before delivering a public lecture on 'Asean Integration' at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in conjunction with its 32nd convocation ceremony, here Friday.

Surin will be awarded an honorary doctorate in economics by UPM during the first session of the convocation tomorrow morning.

The award is for his contributions as an eminent statesman in the Asean region fighting for democratic rights, sustainable development and human safety.

On Wednesday, a gun-and-rocket battle near the 11th-century Preah Vihear border temple killed two Cambodian soldiers and wounded three others. Seven Thai soldiers were also injured.

Surin said Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr Hassan Wirajuda would be doing the same and he had also tried to reach Singapore Foreign Minister George Yong-Boon Yeo regarding the issue.

When asked whether Asean would send a peacemaker, Surin said both sides still wanted to use the bilateral mechanism and Asean should respect that.

"All we can do now is to encourage them to resolve the dispute peacefully through their own bilateral mechanism that had been established a long time ago.

"And from what I know, both sides have pledged at the highest level to find a peaceful solution," he said.

He revealed that he also tried to seek help from the other Asean member countries but could not be reached.

"They are further away from the region and may feel no attachment to the issue," he said.

On the global economic crisis, Surin said there should be no panic reaction but precautionary steps must be taken.

Malaysia considers mediating between Cambodia and Thailand

Malaysia considers mediating in neighbors' dispute

Friday, October 17, 2008
The Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysia is considering a mediation role in the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia that has killed two soldiers and led to fears of outright war.

Foreign Minister Rais Yatim will try to get Cabinet approval Friday to visit Cambodia and Thailand, where fighting erupted between the Southeast Asian neighbors over land surrounding the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple, said Rais' aide, who declined to be named citing policy.

"As a friendly neighbor to both countries, we must do all we can to prevent the situation from getting out of hand," Rais was quoted as saying Thursday by the national news agency Bernama.

His aide confirmed the comments. He said Rais had talked to Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to offer Malaysia's help.

Rais reportedly said Surin also had asked one or two other countries to help resolve the conflict.

Cambodian and Thai army commanders met Thursday in Thailand and agreed to hold joint-border patrols but said they will not withdraw their troops.

In a separate development, Rais said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon had asked Malaysia to consider discussions with Myanmar on human rights, in particular the detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 19 years, Bernama reported.

Mediation offer in Thai-Cambodia dispute

July 21 2008
By Raphael Minder in Singapore
Financial Times

International mediators could be forced to step in after Thailand and Cambodia on Monday failed to solve a spat over an ancient Hindu temple that has inflamed nationalist sentiment in both countries and sparked a military stand-off.

The impasse in talks in Thailand between defence officials from the two countries coincided with a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations in Singapore. The 10-nation Asean urged both countries to show “utmost caution and restraint” and offered to help resolve the dispute. Still, in a sign that the regional group is in no hurry to test its abilities as a regional peace broker, Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general, told the Financial Times on Monday night that the two countries “should find their own solution and I think that they are determined to find one”.

The border stand-off comes after a UN decision to list the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site belonging to Cambodia, overriding 11th-hour objections from the Thais, who had initially backed the listing.

Cambodia has accused Thailand of violating its territory by allowing soldiers to cross the border, but Thailand has rejected the accusations, saying its military had been trying to contain Thai protesters threatening to storm the temple.

Last week, Cambodia also approached the UN, accusing Thailand of violating its “sovereignty and territorial integrity.” But Cambodian officials have since insisted they were not seeking UN intervention at this stage.

The Thai government’s handling of the issue has already forced the resignation of its foreign minister and threatened to weaken further the coalition government of Samak Sundaravej.

Mr Samak’s temple headache, on the other hand, has strengthened the likelihood that his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen, will win another five-year term from voters this Sunday.

In the run-up to the Cambodian election, the World Heritage decision was celebrated last week at a rally in Phnom Penh’s main stadium, allowing the government to focus voter attention on a national victory at a time of economic worries.

Last week, soldiers reportedly pointed guns at each other across the long-disputed temple grounds, with both prime ministers writing to each other warning against a more serious confrontation. Following an earlier dispute, the International Court of Justice had ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia. Monday’s meeting, however, ended in disagreement over what maps should be used to end the military stand-off.