By Bernama,
Phnom Penh : Cambodian foreign minister has asked Singapore, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to intervene and find peaceful solution for its current Preah Vihear dispute with Thailand, Xinhua news agency quoted the minister’s letter sent Monday and made available to reporters here Tuesday.
Hor Namhong, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, asked ASEAN to form a regional inter-ministerial group to help find a peaceful solution to the crisis and avoid military confrontation between the two ASEAN members.
In his letter addressed to Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo, Hor Namhong asked that ASEAN rally the foreign ministers of Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos, to find a way to help ease the tension at the Cambodian-Thai border.
“Thai troops with artillery and tanks are building up along the border, constituting a very serious threat not only to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cambodia, but also to peace and stability in the region,’ he added in the letter.
The ASEAN foreign ministers are holding their annual meeting in Singapore this week. Hor Namhong didn’t attend the meeting.
He is currently meeting with the ambassadors from the five permanent member countries of the United Nations Security Council and will hold a press conference before Tuesday noon to make clear Cambodia ‘s latest reaction to the dispute.
Monday in Thailand, bilateral top-level talks failed to produce any consensus in regard with the military standoff near their border.
Last Tuesday, three Thai protesters trespassed the border to reclaim the temple, but were immediately arrested. Thai troops then came in to fetch them, thus triggering face-off with Cambodian soldiers there. Bilateral military build-up occurred day by day. Currently, the troops there are widely estimated at thousands.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the 11th century classic Khmer-style Preah Vihear Temple, together with the land it occupies, to Cambodia. The decision has rankled the Thais ever since.
The temple straddles the Thai-Cambodian border atop the Dangrek Mountain and was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.