PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP)--Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he is optimistic that a new round of talks with Thailand Monday would result in a lasting solution to a long-running border dispute.
Over the weekend, up to 1,000 Cambodian and Thai troops pulled back from a small patch of disputed land near Cambodia's 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, suggesting an end to the month-long military standoff could be near.
Only 20 troops from both sides remain stationed at a small pagoda in the contentious border area, while 40 Cambodian and Thai solders remain nearby.
Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart, Tej Bunnag, were due to meet for dinner later Monday near the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin for another round of talks aimed at finding a long-term solution to the dispute.
"The meeting will achieve good success in resolving the problem step by step," Hor Namhong told reporters before departing for Thailand.
"I think that at the meeting today (Monday) and tomorrow, we will achieve the total withdrawal of the troops at the pagoda and around the pagoda. So the problem will be settled."
Hor Namhong insisted that his government wishes to resolve the problem with Thailand peacefully, amicably and by legal means, as the two countries share "a lot of economic and trade interests."
Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej flew to the border early Monday ahead of the talks to meet with soldiers still stationed there.
Relations between the neighbors flared up last month after Preah Vihear was awarded world heritage status by the U.N. cultural body Unesco, angering nationalists in Thailand, who still claim ownership of the ancient Khmer temple.
On July 15, Cambodia arrested three Thai protesters for illegally crossing the border to try to reach the temple, sparking the deployment of troops from both sides on the tiny patch of disputed land near Preah Vihear.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but its surrounding land remains in dispute.
The Cambodian-Thai border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with land mines left from decades of war in Cambodia.
Over the weekend, up to 1,000 Cambodian and Thai troops pulled back from a small patch of disputed land near Cambodia's 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, suggesting an end to the month-long military standoff could be near.
Only 20 troops from both sides remain stationed at a small pagoda in the contentious border area, while 40 Cambodian and Thai solders remain nearby.
Hor Namhong and his Thai counterpart, Tej Bunnag, were due to meet for dinner later Monday near the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin for another round of talks aimed at finding a long-term solution to the dispute.
"The meeting will achieve good success in resolving the problem step by step," Hor Namhong told reporters before departing for Thailand.
"I think that at the meeting today (Monday) and tomorrow, we will achieve the total withdrawal of the troops at the pagoda and around the pagoda. So the problem will be settled."
Hor Namhong insisted that his government wishes to resolve the problem with Thailand peacefully, amicably and by legal means, as the two countries share "a lot of economic and trade interests."
Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej flew to the border early Monday ahead of the talks to meet with soldiers still stationed there.
Relations between the neighbors flared up last month after Preah Vihear was awarded world heritage status by the U.N. cultural body Unesco, angering nationalists in Thailand, who still claim ownership of the ancient Khmer temple.
On July 15, Cambodia arrested three Thai protesters for illegally crossing the border to try to reach the temple, sparking the deployment of troops from both sides on the tiny patch of disputed land near Preah Vihear.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but its surrounding land remains in dispute.
The Cambodian-Thai border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with land mines left from decades of war in Cambodia.
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