Thai soldiers stand guard near Preah Vihear temple
A Cambodian soldier stands guard during a meeting at the top of a mountain near Preah Vihear temple Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen expects to meet his Thai counterpart Somchai Wongsawat on the sidelines of a meeting between leaders of Asian and European nations on October 24 and 25.
"During his stay in Beijing, the prime minister will bilaterally meet with the Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao and we have planned to meet with the Thai prime minister as well," Hun Sen's advisor Sri Thamrong told reporters.
"We are organising for this meeting (with Somchai)," he said before Hun Sen departed for China on Monday from Phnom Penh.
Sri Thamrong declined to give more details on the talks.
Somchai later told reporters in Bangkok that no specific meeting had been arranged with Hun Sen, but confirmed that he would be in China from October 23 to 25 and was open to talks.
"The Cambodia issue needs to be discussed between the two countries," he said. "(Talks) depend on whether there is an appropriate atmosphere and an appropriate time available or not."
Thai and Cambodian military officials meanwhile are scheduled to hold talks later this week in Siem Reap aimed at calming the situation after two Cambodian soldiers were killed and seven Thai troops injured last Wednesday.
The firefight erupted between soldiers stationed on disputed land near Cambodia's ancient Preah Vihear temple.
Emergency talks the day after ended with both 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.
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