A Change of Guard

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Tuesday 7 October 2008

FM plays down landmine case on Cambodian Border

The anti-personal mine that injured two Thai rangers on the border with Cambodia yesterday was left over long ago, and was not intended to prevent Thai armed forces from crossing the border, Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat said yesterday.



Military on the ground said earlier the mine had been planted recently as the area, which had been full of land mines, had already been cleared.

Sompong tried to play down the tense situation before his visit with Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat on October 13, following the border skirmish in Phu Ma Khua, the same place where the rangers stepped over the mine.

The area is an overlapping territory claimed by both sides, situated about one kilometre west of Preah Vihear Temple. The temple is still the core conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

The border skirmish on Friday injured two Thai para-military rangers and three Cambodia soldiers, which was followed by an exchange of diplomatic protests by both sides on Saturday. Sompong said he would seek to settle the border dispute when he meets his Cambodian counterpart in Phnom Penh.

The two countries need the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC) to draw a clear boundary of 798 kilometres.

The JBC is headed by deputy foreign ministers on both sides. But as Sompong does not have a deputy, he will need to appoint any of his advisers or aides to head the JBC.

"I will appoint a person who is keen on legal and diplomatic affairs to head the Thai JBC," he said.

The JBC also needs a mandate from Parliament before beginning negotiations on the territory issue in accordance with the Constitution, Sompong said. The mandate framework has already been submitted to Parliament but the minister has not been able to make the case as the government has yet announced its policy to Parliament, he said.

The government will announce its policy to Parliament today and tomorrow. Sompong begins his first bilateral visit to Laos on October 10 before heading to Burma and Cambodia.

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