Hun Sen breaks from protocol and program, lambasts Thailand at ASEAN summit

07-May-11 | Agence France-Presse

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders join hands for a group photo during the opening ceremony of the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta May 7, 2011. From L-R, Philippines President Benigno Aquino, Singapore's senior minister Professor S. Jayakumar, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Laos Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Not in the picture is Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein.

JAKARTA - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen launched an "aggressive" attack on Thailand over a border dispute during the first session of a summit of Southeast Asian leaders on Saturday, a senior official said.

Senior officials said Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders were taken aback at the unscheduled salvo across the meeting table at the opening of the two-day summit in Jakarta.

The trade and economy-focused summit was at risk of being hijacked by tensions over the bloody military conflict which has killed 85 people and temporarily displaced 85,000 in months of clashes.

An Asian foreign minister, who did not want to be named, said Hun Sen was "quite aggressive" when he raised the issue during the closed-door session.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn confirmed that Hun Sen raised the dispute, which was not on the formal agenda, to the "surprise" of other leaders.

Panitan said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was "disappointed" and rebutted Hun Sen's allegations that Thai troops were attacking Cambodian territory.

"He said he was very disappointed to hear Cambodia accusing Thailand of using force against Cambodia. In fact we have not. In fact we have been helping Cambodia through difficult times," the spokesman said.

"Despite our good intentions, yes, he (Abhisit) was disappointed that Prime Minister Hun Sen misunderstood our intention."

The dispute centres on a small area around an 11th-century Khmer temple which belongs to Cambodia under a 1962 World Court ruling.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters that Phnom Penh had done everything it could to resolve the issue but would never agree to Bangkok's demands to pull troops out of the temple.

"Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed to ASEAN to help solve the problem peacefully," he told reporters at the summit in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

"I have already said that Cambodia can never withdraw their troops from their own territory and by putting this condition, Thailand knows very well that Cambodia can never accept that."

Philippine presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said the session was more animated than most participants had expected.

"We were surprised, many people were surprised that the Cambodian side brought it up and it took quite a bit of their time," he said.

"It became a little dramatic, but I think that's just the way that Prime Minister Hun Sen delivers speeches."