Cambodian PM asks Thai troops to withdraw from border area in 24 hours
Cambodian PM asks Thai troops to withdraw from border area in 24 hours
PHNOM PENH: — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen here Monday asked Thailand to evacuate its 81 troops from the Veal Intry area near the Preah Vihear Temple on Cambodian soil within 24 hours, and warned war otherwise.
“The Veal Intry area is the dead or alive point for us,” he told reporters at the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation after meeting with visiting Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornviwat.
“The situation at the Veal Intry area is too hot. They have to remove tonight or tomorrow. If they don’t remove from the Veal Intry area, war will be waged,” he said.
“They entered there (Monday morning) and are deploying and camping their tents about 30 meters from our soldiers. They said they stay here only one day,” he said.
“Cambodia still keep our maximum restraints and won’t mind if they go back to their own stronghold,” he said.
“We want to solve the matter with a peaceful deal. We are trying to shorten the conflict,” he said.
The international court is the best way for both sides to solve the border conflict and it can also avoid blame from the people of the two nations, he said.
In addition, Cambodia can’t hand over concession land to Thailand, and Thailand either, he said.
The Veal Intry area is on the Phnom Trap hill side, approximately 2,000 meters from the west side of the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Pagoda, which is situated on the only way leading to the Preah Vihear Temple.
Earlier Monday, Sompong Amornviwat and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong decided to resume both sides’ border talks between Oct. 21 and Oct. 24 in Siem Reap province.
In July, tensions ran high after the ancient Preah Vihear Temple was awarded world heritage status by UNESCO, angering nationalists in Thailand who still claim ownership of the site.
The tension later turned into a military confrontation, in which up to 1,000 Cambodian and Thai troops faced off for six weeks. In mid-August, most troops evacuated and just a few dozen soldiers stationed near the temple.
However, bilateral talks to discuss withdrawing troops from around the temple were postponed late August amid political turmoil in Thailand.
In October at the border area, at least one Cambodian soldier and two Thai troops were wounded during an exchange of gunfire, and two other Thai soldiers were seriously injured after stepping on a landmine.
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War threat
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered fresh troops to the border with an ultimatum to Thailand: Pull military forces back today or the border will become a “life and death battle zone”.
Hun Sen told reporters in Phnom Penh that he had warned Thailand’s visiting Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat that without a quick pullout, Thai soldiers could face being fired upon by Cambodian troops in “large-scale armed conflict”.
“If they cannot withdraw tonight, they must withdraw tomorrow,” said Hun Sen.
“We have tried to be patient, but I told the Thai foreign minister today that the area is a life-and-death battle zone.”
His comments came after talks with Mr Sompong in Phnom Penh.
Mr Sompong also met with his counterpart Hor Namhong in a bid to resolve the dispute over the area near the ancient Preah Vihear temple.
The Cambodian foreign minister said yesterday’s talks failed to end in agreement because his Thai opposite number “could not sign anything”.
Hun Sen and Hor Namhong both told reporters that Cambodia could choose to take the border dispute before an international court if it was not resolved soon.
The comments made by the Cambodian prime minister and foreign minister surprised Mr Sompong and Thai officials, who were adamant that the meetings had not been a failure.
Mr Sompong said the tone during the meetings between the two countries had been different as the Cambodian leaders agreed that both sides had to be patient in resolving the border spat.
He said no Thai troop withdrawals would be made from the 4.6 sq km overlapping area between Kantharalak district in Si Sa Ket and Preah Vihear province of Cambodia until the dispute over ownership is cleared through negotiations in the Joint Boundary Commission that was set up to demarcate the land border.
Thailand reiterated its ownership over the area, Mr Sompong said in Bangkok and rushed to report the talks to Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.
Suranaree Task Force commander Maj-Gen Kanok Netrakavaesana will hold talks with his Cambodian counterpart tomorrow on the border issues and the Thai and Cambodian defence ministers will meet next Tuesday , according to Mr Sompong.
Cambodian Deputy Defence Minister Gen Neang Phat said more Cambodian troops were heading to the area after up to 500 Thai soldiers had tried to cross the border near an ancient Hindu temple that is claimed by both countries.
“We are building up our troops at the border in response to Thailand, but I cannot reveal the number,” he told reporters.
Maj-Gen Srey Deok, who oversees the Cambodian military in the disputed area, said: “Thai troops have already entered the area. They are confronting our troops.”
But Maj-Gen Kanok denied that more troops had been sent to the disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple.
Thailand and Cambodia have 10 soldiers each at the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda near the Preah Vihear temple and 45 around the compound on joint patrol, according to the agreement between the two countries to ease border tension.
The two countries also have back-up troops near the border.
The number of soldiers there remained unchanged, Maj-Gen Kanok said.
Maj-Gen Kanok slammed Cambodia for distorting information and taking advantage of the political crisis in Thailand to launch an offensive move for its own political benefit.
The Suranaree chief, his patience wearing thin, called for a quick solution to the border spat and a clear direction to be provided by the government as it could become an armed conflict if it was left unsettled.
“I want the government to solve this problem and make it clear what to do. If it is left this way, nobody knows what is going to happen,” he said.
Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia first flared in July after the Preah Vihear temple was awarded World Heritage status by the World Heritage Committee.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belongs to Cambodia, but the surrounding land remains in dispute.
Tensions escalated into a military confrontation in which up to 1,000 Cambodian and Thai troops faced off for six weeks.
The two countries have swapped accusations of violating each other’s territory in the dispute.
Cambodia: Thailand withdraws troops from border
Tue Oct 14, 5:42 AM ET
Thai troops retreated from a disputed border zone Tuesday, a Cambodian general said, averting a possible military clash after Cambodia’s prime minister issued an ultimatum to Thailand to withdraw by midday.
But a Thai army spokesman denied that any soldiers had been withdrawn, and said his country was “ready” to respond militarily if attacked.
Cambodian army commander Brig. Gen. Yim Pim said all Thai troops had retreated and were back inside their camp about half a mile (1 kilometer) from the contested territory.
“The tense situation has now eased,” Yim Pim told The Associated Press.
Earlier Tuesday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had warned Thailand to pull back 84 troops from the area by noon. He accused the troops of having crossed into Cambodian territory in a disputed stretch of jungle near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which has been a source of enmity between the two countries for decades.
“They must withdraw,” Hun Sen said during a speech at an economic conference in the capital, Phnom Penh. “I have set the timeline for them to withdraw by 12 o’clock.” Noon in Cambodia is 0500 GMT.
“At any cost, we will not allow Thai troops to invade this area. I would like to be clear about this,” Hun Sen said, adding that he had ordered Cambodia’s army chiefs to “take full responsibility over this area. It is a life-and-death battle zone.”
Yim Pim, the Cambodian army general, said the troops had fully retreated about 90 minutes ahead of the noon deadline.
Thai army spokesman Sansern Kaewkumnerd denied the Cambodian claim that Thai troops had withdrawn from the disputed area.
“There has been no troop movement,” Sansern said in a telephone interview. “The army wants the two countries to continue with bilateral talks, but if the situation escalates, we are ready. But we will not attack first.”
Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwait said about 80 troops went into the disputed territory on a mine removal mission after two Thai soldiers lost legs earlier this month when they stepped on land mines.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat earlier told reporters that Thailand was “surprised” Hun Sen had issued an ultimatum “threatening the use of force.”
“If Cambodia does resort to the use of force … Thailand will have to exercise its right to self-defense,” Tharit said in the statement, indicating that deep tensions remained between the two neighbors.
Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, also speaking earlier in the day, said he had ordered the army to “take care of the situation so there is no violence.”
“We do not object to redeployment so there is no confrontation,” Somchai told reporters as he headed into Tuesday’s weekly Cabinet meeting.
Both countries have long claimed Preah Vihear, but the World Court awarded it to Cambodia in 1962. Sovereignty over some of the land around the temple, however, has not been clearly resolved.
Tensions flared July 15 after UNESCO, the U.N. agency, approved Cambodia’s bid to have the Preah Vihear temple named a World Heritage Site. Cambodia deployed about 800 troops to the border, and Thailand sent some 400 soldiers.
Both sides pulled back most of their troops in late August, but it is not clear how many remain in the area and at other spots along the disputed border.
A brief gunfight broke out between the two sides early this month, with one Cambodian and two Thai soldiers wounded. Both sides claimed the other fired first and blamed each other for being on the wrong side of the border. Three days later, two Thai soldiers lost legs when they stepped on land mines in the area.
Hun Sen met Monday with Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat, but the meeting appeared to end without a resolution, with Hun Sen saying that if Thai troops do not stop trespassing, “armed clashes will break out.”
Cambodia claims Thailand violated airspace
PHNOM PENH: — Thailand violated Cambodian airspace hours before a border skirmish erupted on Wednesday, Cambodian officials said.
Cambodian and Thai soldiers on Wednesday exchanged gunfire in a disputed zone near the ancient Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border called Eagle Field, or Eagle Terrace, 300 kilometres north of the Cambodian capital, which is an important strategic point for access to Preah Vihear.
“The Thai injuries were worse, but there were casualties on both sides,” the director-general of Cambodia’s Preah Vihear authority, which oversees the site, said by telephone.
“The Thai fighter jet came 8:50 am and again at 10.07 am to disturb our airspace. Cambodian soldiers wanted to fight then, but they were placated for a while.
“I do not know why fighting happened at 2.15 until 3.30 pm because I was not there,” the head of Cambodia’s Preah Vihear authority, Hang Soth, said by telephone from a meeting in Phnom Penh.
He said there were casualties on both sides, but that the Thai side had borne the brunt of duel M-79, B-40 and AK-47 exchanges.
Cambodian authorities said all civilians had fled the area and it was now regarded by both sides as a conflict zone.
The Wednesday shoot-out at Eagle Terrage is important to the ongoing dispute over the Preah Vihear temple because whoever controls that area controls access to the temple, which is sacred to both sides.
A similar clash at the same site on October 3 left two Thai soldiers and one Cambodian wounded.