UNESCO Begins Demarcating Preah Vihear Temple

PHNOM PENH, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- A UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) delegation has begun marking out the boundary of the Preah Vihear temple, said China's Xinhua news agency quoting national media reports Friday.

The Preah Vihear temple was listed as a World Heritage site in July and has since been at the centre of a border dispute between Cambodia, which owns the monument, and Thailand, where nationalists claim the 11th-century ruins were unfairly taken from the Thais.

Both sides have faced off over contested territory near the temple and elsewhere along the border, with troops opening fire on each other last month in a brief clash that left at least four soldiers dead.

Although the border has remained quiet since then, tensions remain high and Cambodian military officials said they would protect the UNESCO team.

"We are ready to provide security for the delegation when they post markers at the temple," Brigade 12 commander Srey Doek was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

"Security is good and well-organized," he added.

Meas Yoeun, deputy military commander of Preah Vihear province, said that after the UNESCO had demarcated the temple border, troops guarding it would be withdrawn to another site.

"We will remove (the troops), but we are waiting for orders from higher levels," he said.

He added that both Cambodian and Thai soldiers at the front line are considering declaring the demarcated area a protected zone after the departure of the UNESCO team.

Cambodians protect temple

Nov 7, 2008
AFP

PREAH VIHEAR (Cambodia) - CAMBODIAN officials erected flags and signs near an ancient Khmer temple in a bid to protect the landmark, after accusing Thai troops of damaging it in a recent border gunfight.

In a ceremony at the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which sits alongside the disputed border with Thailand, Cambodian officials raised a World Heritage flag and signs declaring it an international cultural property under special protection.

Mr Hang Soth, director general of the agency which cares for the site, said two signs each nearly two-metres-wide were also placed on towers of the temple, facing the sky to prevent 'jet strikes'.

'We put up signs in order to ban Thai soldiers from firing at the temple,' Mr Hang Soth said after the ceremony which was not attended by UN officials.

Preah Vihear was hit by rocket and bullet fire during October 15 troop clashes on disputed land which left three Cambodians and one Thai dead.

The Cambodian government blamed Thai troops for damage to a staircase and a sculpture, but Thailand denies the charge.

Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia flared in July when Preah Vihear was awarded UN World Heritage status, rekindling a long-simmering dispute over ownership of land surrounding the temple.

Although the World Court ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, the most accessible entrance is in Thailand's northeastern Si Sa Ket province and the recent conflict has fuelled nationalism on both sides of the border.

Cambodian and Thai officials are scheduled to hold border talks next week in Cambodian tourist hub Siem Reap.

Thailand rejects temple damage allegations

October 27, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

Thailand has denied Cambodian allegations that Thai troops damaged an ancient temple during a recent border clash.

Cambodia said earlier that it had filed a complaint with the United Nations, alleging Thai soldiers had damaged statues and a staircase at the Preah Vihear temple with rocket launchers.

But the Thai Foreign Ministry says Thai troops neither used rockets, nor heavy weapons in the clash.

The World Heritage temple site is at the centre of a long-running territorial dispute between the two sides.

During the just-ended Asia-Europe summit in Beijing, Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen held a meeting on the border conflict, and vowed to solve the issue in a bilateral framework.