By Touch Yuthea
The Mekong Times
The National Culture and Social Morality Center (NCSC) on Thursday cancelled a planned protest in front of Phnom Penh’s Thai Embassy. Security was stepped up at the embassy the same day, with military policemen and a fire truck standing at the ready.
“I would like to apologize to Cambodian compatriots, especially supporters who want to march to urge the Thai government and its left-wing opposition party to respect the International Court of Justice’s 1962 ruling that Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia,” NCSC President Po Samnang wrote in an open statement. “I pray the Cambodian government will win victory in registration of the temple as a World Heritage Site. The government’s decision to get the temple protected is right.”
Despite a planned NCSC protest with 3,000 to 5,000 demonstrators, police were outnumbered by reporters and photographers Thursday.
Municipal Police Chief Touch Naroth said police have been deployed to guard the Thai Embassy “to avoid demonstrations carried by a handful of people [in 2003] against the embassy and [which could] cost Cambodia millions of US dollars.”
The Thai embassy was burnt down in 2003 during anti-Thai riots that followed false rumors a Thai actress had claimed Angkor Wat temple was Thai. Cambodia has vowed that such violence will not be repeated.
Police officials accompanied by a fire truck will now protect the embassy around the clock, Touch Naroth said, as well as protecting Thai residents.
A Thai embassy staff member claimed to be unaware of upgraded security Thursday, noting that external security is the responsibility of the Cambodian authorities. The Thai Embassy has yet to issue any formal advice to Thai nationals in Cambodia.
Although AFP reported “riot police” had been stationed outside the embassy Thursday, the police on guard appeared to be Interior Ministry and military police with standard equipment.
The Cambodian government would not tolerate “anti-government elements,” Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Thursday, according to DPA.
“These are anti-government groups, so we will treat it as a domestic matter. Thailand tries to help Cambodia so we should not confuse this issue,” Kanharith said.
“We should stay calm, because whatever happens, it is not in dispute that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia,” he said, adding that Hun Sen had spoken to his Thai counterpart Samak Sundaravej about the issue, and relations between the governments were very cordial.
Khieu Kanharith blamed the political opposition for trying to inflame the issue.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An is currently in Canada arguing for the temple to be World Heritage listed – something some Thai senators have objected to, saying it should be jointly managed.
The Mekong Times
The National Culture and Social Morality Center (NCSC) on Thursday cancelled a planned protest in front of Phnom Penh’s Thai Embassy. Security was stepped up at the embassy the same day, with military policemen and a fire truck standing at the ready.
“I would like to apologize to Cambodian compatriots, especially supporters who want to march to urge the Thai government and its left-wing opposition party to respect the International Court of Justice’s 1962 ruling that Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia,” NCSC President Po Samnang wrote in an open statement. “I pray the Cambodian government will win victory in registration of the temple as a World Heritage Site. The government’s decision to get the temple protected is right.”
Despite a planned NCSC protest with 3,000 to 5,000 demonstrators, police were outnumbered by reporters and photographers Thursday.
Municipal Police Chief Touch Naroth said police have been deployed to guard the Thai Embassy “to avoid demonstrations carried by a handful of people [in 2003] against the embassy and [which could] cost Cambodia millions of US dollars.”
The Thai embassy was burnt down in 2003 during anti-Thai riots that followed false rumors a Thai actress had claimed Angkor Wat temple was Thai. Cambodia has vowed that such violence will not be repeated.
Police officials accompanied by a fire truck will now protect the embassy around the clock, Touch Naroth said, as well as protecting Thai residents.
A Thai embassy staff member claimed to be unaware of upgraded security Thursday, noting that external security is the responsibility of the Cambodian authorities. The Thai Embassy has yet to issue any formal advice to Thai nationals in Cambodia.
Although AFP reported “riot police” had been stationed outside the embassy Thursday, the police on guard appeared to be Interior Ministry and military police with standard equipment.
The Cambodian government would not tolerate “anti-government elements,” Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Thursday, according to DPA.
“These are anti-government groups, so we will treat it as a domestic matter. Thailand tries to help Cambodia so we should not confuse this issue,” Kanharith said.
“We should stay calm, because whatever happens, it is not in dispute that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia,” he said, adding that Hun Sen had spoken to his Thai counterpart Samak Sundaravej about the issue, and relations between the governments were very cordial.
Khieu Kanharith blamed the political opposition for trying to inflame the issue.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An is currently in Canada arguing for the temple to be World Heritage listed – something some Thai senators have objected to, saying it should be jointly managed.
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