Cambodia urges ASEAN ceasefire deal with Thailand (AFP)

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Cambodia said on Thursday it would press Thailand to sign a permanent ceasefire at a regional gathering next week as both countries remained at odds over how to settle a deadly border row.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia would urge its neighbour to agree a peace deal during a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta on Tuesday.

But Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected the idea of ASEAN involvement in resolving the dispute, which erupted into armed clashes between the countries earlier this month.

Four days of heavy fighting near a 900-year-old border temple left at least 10 people dead and displaced thousands of families on both sides of the frontier.

"During the upcoming ASEAN meeting, Cambodia will request that a ceasefire agreement be signed between the Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers under the witness of ASEAN or the ASEAN chair," Hun Sen said at a press conference in the Cambodian capital.

He also confirmed that his country will call for ASEAN observers to come to the border area to help ensure a ceasefire holds.

The two sides are at odds over an area near the Preah Vihear temple, an 11th-century clifftop ruin that belongs to Cambodia but whose designation as a World Heritage site sparked the ire of Thai nationalists.

Both countries blame each other for the crisis.

Thailand has repeatedly said it wants to resolve the row bilaterally, rejecting Cambodian requests for third-party mediation.

"I do not think we have to talk about this during the ASEAN meeting because we are not the ones that started the fight," Abhisit said on Thursday when asked about a ceasefire deal.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday urged the two nations to establish a "permanent ceasefire" but did not endorse a Cambodian request to deploy UN peacekeepers in the contested area.

It did, however, express support for mediation efforts by Indonesia, the current chair of the 10-nation ASEAN group.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 1.8-square-mile (4.6-square-kilometre) surrounding area.

Hun Sen told reporters legal officials were currently preparing documents to bring the case back to the World Court to ask for a clarification concerning the disputed plot of land.

"We will return to the Court to have it resolved," Hun Sen said.

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Cambodia urges ASEAN ceasefire deal with Thailand (AFP)

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Cambodia said on Thursday it would press Thailand to sign a permanent ceasefire at a regional gathering next week as both countries remained at odds over how to settle a deadly border row.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia would urge its neighbour to agree a peace deal during a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta on Tuesday.

But Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected the idea of ASEAN involvement in resolving the dispute, which erupted into armed clashes between the countries earlier this month.

Four days of heavy fighting near a 900-year-old border temple left at least 10 people dead and displaced thousands of families on both sides of the frontier.

"During the upcoming ASEAN meeting, Cambodia will request that a ceasefire agreement be signed between the Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers under the witness of ASEAN or the ASEAN chair," Hun Sen said at a press conference in the Cambodian capital.

He also confirmed that his country will call for ASEAN observers to come to the border area to help ensure a ceasefire holds.

The two sides are at odds over an area near the Preah Vihear temple, an 11th-century clifftop ruin that belongs to Cambodia but whose designation as a World Heritage site sparked the ire of Thai nationalists.

Both countries blame each other for the crisis.

Thailand has repeatedly said it wants to resolve the row bilaterally, rejecting Cambodian requests for third-party mediation.

"I do not think we have to talk about this during the ASEAN meeting because we are not the ones that started the fight," Abhisit said on Thursday when asked about a ceasefire deal.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday urged the two nations to establish a "permanent ceasefire" but did not endorse a Cambodian request to deploy UN peacekeepers in the contested area.

It did, however, express support for mediation efforts by Indonesia, the current chair of the 10-nation ASEAN group.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 1.8-square-mile (4.6-square-kilometre) surrounding area.

Hun Sen told reporters legal officials were currently preparing documents to bring the case back to the World Court to ask for a clarification concerning the disputed plot of land.

"We will return to the Court to have it resolved," Hun Sen said.

View the original article here

Thailand, Cambodia clashes cease

Cambodian soldiers deployed at a military base near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple close to the Thai border.ASEAN official believes there is overwhelming commitment for a peaceful resolutionCambodia handed over a captured Thai soldier on TuesdayASEAN says 5 people have been killed in the clashesThere have long been sporadic clashes over the Preah Vihear temple
Bangkok (CNN) -- Border skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia over a temple have grown quiet, a Thai military official said Wednesday.
"There has been no gun firing for two days now, the last firing was on Monday," said Col. Shingark Rattanakitti. "The situation in general here is calm, but we are all on high alert."
The development came as the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations pushed for talks between the two nations to end the deadly clashes.
The issue "can only be addressed bilaterally," Marty M. Natalegawa, who is also the Indonesian foreign minister, said Tuesday. He added that he has the impression, after visiting Phnom Penh and Bangkok, that there is an overwhelming commitment on both sides to "address their issues through peaceful means, through dialogues and negotiations."
The border skirmishes, which started Friday, have killed five people, including members of the military and civilians, a statement from ASEAN said, adding that each nation accuses the other of firing first.
Thailand's official news agency, MCOT, reported Tuesday, "Since the fighting erupted Friday, one Thai soldier was killed, 25 were wounded and one civilian died in the clashes."
The report added that Cambodia on Tuesday "handed over a Thai soldier captured during the cross border clash."
Cambodia's official news agency, AKP, reported Tuesday that "Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen has sought the United Nations' intervention in arranging a buffer zone" at the border area and wants to make sure the fighting does not expand to other parts of the border.
The U.N. Security Council on Monday expressed "grave concern at aggravation of tensions between Cambodia and Thailand" and said it was willing to hold an emergency meeting requested by Cambodia, but first wanted to wait for regional mediation efforts by the Indonesian foreign minister.
An official Thai report said the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday, but skirmishes continued after.
The clashes stem from a longstanding conflict related to the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple. The building sits on a cliff in Cambodian territory, but the most accessible entrance to the site is on the Thai side.
In a letter to the United Nations over the weekend, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said that in addition to the human toll the fighting was taking, the temple had suffered damage.
Conflict over the Preah Vihear site has taken place periodically for years. In 1962, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that the site was in Cambodia, adding that the structure was "an outstanding masterpiece of Khmer architecture."
But Thailand says the 1.8-square mile (4.7-square kilometer) area around Preah Vihear was never fully demarcated, and blames a map drawn at the beginning of the 20th century during the French occupation of Cambodia.
In July 2008, the United Nations approved Cambodia's application to have the temple listed as a World Heritage Site, meaning the U.N. believes the place has outstanding universal value.
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