May 8, 2011
DPA
Jakarta - A border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand seized central stage at a summit of South-East Asian nations where it was agreed Sunday to continue talks on the contentious issue for another day at the foreign ministers' level.
'The foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand will stay another day to work with the foreign minister of Indonesia,' Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said.
Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva met Sunday on the sidelines of the 18th Association of South-East Asian (ASEAN) summit for talks on their border conflict that has overshadowed the regional gathering this weekend.
The meeting was hosted by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, chair of the summit, who is pushing ASEAN's regional peace-making role.
Cambodia has been keen to bring a third party into its ongoing border row with Thailand over joint claims to a 4.6 square kilometre plot of land adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple, an 11th century monument that was named a World Heritage Site in 2008.
The border dispute, which has flared into several skirmishes over the past three years, has blocked Cambodia's efforts to get UNESCO approval for its management plan for the site.
In February, following a fight, Cambodia appealed to the United Nations Security Council to step in on the issue, but the council entrusted that role to ASEAN.
'Any attempt to solve this issue needs the participation of Indonesia, as current chair of ASEAN,' Hun Sen said.
Thailand, although open to Indonesia's role as a facilitator of talks, insists that the Preah Vihear issue needs to be solved bilaterally.
'This is a boundary issue, so it's between two countries,' Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said. 'A third country with no interest in the issue can only facilitate the process. It's not a three-way negotiation.'
The Jakarta summit a week after Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire at two other border temples - Ta Muean and Ta Kwai, 140 kilometres west of Preah Vihear, leaving eight soldiers dead on both sides.
Hun Sen said that the dispute over Ta Muen and Ta Kwai could be handled bilaterally, unlike the conflict over Preah Vihear.
Indonesia has offered to send observers to the border area, to facilitate a ceasefire between the two ASEAN states, but the proposal has hit snags on a Thai request that Cambodian troops and civilians be withdrawn from the temple site.
Cambodia has refused to do so, insisting that the observers be allowed in the temple complex while Cambodian troops are there.
Thailand is pushing for Cambodia to return to the General Border Committee, a bilateral mechanism, to resolve their differences over the troop withdrawal issue.
Abhisit on Saturday accused Hun Sen of attempting to 'internationalize' the border issue.
Last week Phnom Penh petitioned the International Court of Justice to intervene.
In 1962, the court ruled that Preah Vihear was on Cambodian soil, but did not rule on where the common border lies, giving rise to a dispute over a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land nearby.
ASEAN now holds two summits a year. The second of the two annual ASEAN summits is scheduled for November in Bali.
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