PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia backed off from talk of a Thai incursion Wednesday as troops from both sides held positions on the border near an ancient Hindu temple at the centre of a territorial dispute.
Officials from both countries moved to resolve the disagreement peacefully a day after Cambodia said troops from Thailand had entered the country.
About 200 Thai troops and 380 Cambodian soldiers Wednesday were stationed at a Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.
Asked if the incident amounted to a Thai invasion, Cambodia's government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said, "I think it's better to say this is some kind of misunderstanding," noting that the soldiers were interacting peacefully.
"The Thai and Cambodian soldiers stayed together overnight at the pagoda," Kanharith told reporters.
Cambodian officials claimed soldiers began crossing the border on Tuesday after three Thai protesters were arrested for jumping an immigration checkpoint to reach the temple.
Thailand denies the trespass and insists the soldiers are patrolling on its side of the border.
Although Kanharith said late Tuesday that the Thai soldiers were detained at the pagoda, he later insisted they were free to leave, saying he was "optimistic" that the Thai troops would soon withdraw.
In Bangkok, the Thai army commander, General Anupong Paojinda, said he had ordered the troops to refrain from using force and said the two countries should settle their differences through talks.
"There should be negotiations between the two countries. The problem has been unaddressed for a long time because there has been no demarcation of the border yet," he told reporters.
"I want the problem to be solved, and the solution must be accepted by both countries," he said.
The image of calm differed from earlier comments, when a Cambodian official said that Thailand's troop presence had doubled overnight to 200 soldiers.
Thailand has consistently denied entering Cambodian territory, even when a Thai soldier was injured by a landmine Tuesday.
The military says the landmine was planted on Thai soil, possibly a remnant from the decades of war that once plagued the border.
The incident comes amid heightened political tensions in both countries, after the UN cultural agency UNESCO awarded the temple World Heritage status earlier this month.
Cambodia is preparing for general elections on July 27, when Prime Minister Hun Sen is expected to extend his decades-long grip on power.
He has portrayed the UN recognition of the ruins as a national triumph, organising huge public celebrations.
In Thailand, critics of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej -- who was already the target of street protests -- have stoked the temple controversy to fire up nationalist sentiment.
Samak's government had originally signed a deal supporting Cambodia's bid to make the ruins a World Heritage site, but a court overturned the pact, forcing the resignation of foreign minister Noppadon Pattama.
The parliamentary opposition is now mulling impeachment motions against the entire cabinet.
The World Court ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia, but the exact border around the ruins remains in dispute, with the main compound lying inside Cambodia but the most accessible entrance at the foot of a mountain in Thailand.
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