Asian leaders in talks to end spat

From correspondents in Bangkok
October 21, 2008
Agence France-Presse

THE Thai premier has agreed to talks with his Cambodian counterpart this week in China after a long-running border spat escalated into a deadly shootout, a Thai government spokesman said today.

THAI Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat confirmed he would hold talks with Cambodian premier Hun Sen on the sidelines of a Beijing meeting between leaders of Asian and European nations on October 24 and 25, spokesman Nutthawut Saikua said.

"The prime minister had informed his cabinet during a meeting that he made an appointment to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen while both are attending the (Asia-Europe) meeting in China,'' Mr Nutthawut said.

An adviser for Hun Sen told reporters Monday that the Cambodian premier was expecting to meet with Somchai in Beijing.

Somchai, who has only been in power for one month but is already rattled by local political turmoil, was forced to cancel traditional familiarisation visits to neighbouring Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and Myanmar this month.

Thai and Cambodian military officials meanwhile are scheduled to hold talks Thursday in Siem Reap aimed at calming the territorial dispute which last week erupted into fighting that killed one Thai and three Cambodian soldiers.

The firefight erupted between soldiers stationed on disputed land near Cambodia's ancient Preah Vihear temple.

Emergency talks the day after ended with Cambodian and Thai officials agreeing to joint border patrols - which have not started yet - but offered no lasting solution to the military stand-off along the border.

Tensions between the neighbours flared in July when Preah Vihear was awarded United Nations World Heritage status, rekindling long-simmering tensions over ownership of land surrounding the temple.