Cambodian PM calls for int'l conference to resolve border issue with Thai

09 August, 2010

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday appealed to hold an international conference to help solve the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

Hun Sen's comment came a day after he wrote to the United Nations complaining about Thailand's threat to use military to solve the claimed areas near the Preah Vihear temple.

"I am now calling upon to form an international conference on the Cambodia-Thailand border to settle this problem," the premier said.

Hun Sen made the appeal during his speech at a national working meeting held Monday. He said Cambodia always hopes to resolve the issue through the existing bilateral mechanism, but it was rejected by Thailand, so "only an international talk could solve Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple dispute."

Cambodia and Thailand went through three rounds of talks since the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the border demarcation was inked in 2000, Hun Sen said, but Thailand did not seek parliamentary ratification, leaving the deal in limbo.

"I call on an international conference which will include ASEAN member countries, UN's Security Council, International Court of Justice and Paris Accord's country members," he said.

Hun Sen on Sunday sent letters to UN's Security Council President Vitaly Churkin, and UN's General Assembly President Ali Abdussalam Treki to inform that Thailand would use arms to resolve the border.

Cambodia and Thailand have the border conflict just one week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple was registered as a World Heritage Site in July 2008.

And over the past days, Cambodia and Thailand have exchanged war of words concerning who won at the recent UNESCO's meeting in Brazil on the conservation and management plan submitted by the Cambodian side over the world cultural heritage site.

Cambodia was due to present its progress report on the conservation and management plan of the Preah Vihear Temple to UNESCO's committee for World Heritage, but that was opposed by the Thai side, who hoped that would be done only after the border issues between the two nations have been finalized.

However, the UNESCO accepted the report but suggested it to be examined next year in Bahrain.

Source: Xinhua