Thursday 22 December 2011

Thailand and Cambodia to withdraw troops from around disputed temple

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to withdraw their troops from the space around a disputed border temple, the official Thai news agency MCOT reported.


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The two countries reached a deal to implement a purchase through the International Court of Justice to set up place a "provisional demilitarized zone" round the Preah Vihear temple, MCOT cited Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh as saying in a news conference on Wednesday.

Thai and Cambodian troops had clashed in the region round the temple captured, displacing thousands of people on sides and causing at least 20 deaths.

A joint working group is going to be set up to discuss the rules governing the demilitarized zone, Banh said after ending up in the Thai defense minister, General Yutthasak Sasiprapa, in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

The troop withdrawals, to become carried out as soon as possible, will be supervised by observers from Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, the chair from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Banh said.

Cambodia had asked the International Court of Justice, the United Nation's highest court, to intervene and order Thai troops out of the area.

The court, instead, ruled in July that both sides must withdraw their troops to prevent more casualties.

The 11th century temple sits atop a cliff on Cambodian soil but has its most accessible entrance around the Thai side. The two countries differ on whether some territory around the temple forms a part of Thailand or Cambodia.

The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962. Thailand claims, however, that the 1.8 square mile (4.6 sq. km) area surrounding it had been never fully demarcated.

Thailand says the dispute arose from the fact that the Cambodian government used a map drawn throughout the French occupation of Cambodia -- a map that places the temple and area in Cambodian territory.

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In 2008, the Un approved Cambodia's application to achieve the temple listed as a World Heritage Site -- a place the U.N. says has outstanding universal value.

The decision re-ignited tensions, with some in Thailand fearing it'll make it hard for his or her country to lay claim that they can disputed land round the temple.

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