A Change of Guard

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Friday 6 February 2009

Cambodia-Thai border talks


PHNOM PENH - THAI and Cambodian defence ministers met on Friday in Phnom Penh to attempt to broker a deal to defuse a troop stand-off at their border that erupted in a deadly clash last year, officials said.

Thai Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon met with his counterpart Tea Banh (pictured) for talks aimed at withdrawing soldiers from disputed land around Cambodia's ancient Preah Vihear temple, said General Neang Phat.

'The meeting will discuss troop pullbacks in order to return the situation to normal,' the Cambodian general told AFP shortly before the meeting began.

Mr Prawit was also scheduled to meet with premier Hun Sen at Cambodia's foreign ministry and other top officials during his day-long trip to the capital, Gen Neang Phat said.

Tensions over the long-disputed territory flared in July last year after 11th century Preah Vihear was granted United Nations world heritage status, and soldiers clashed there in October leaving four troops dead.

Subsequent talks between Cambodia and Thailand have not reached a resolution to the dispute.

The most recent talks ended on Wednesday in Bangkok with negotiators unable to agree on a common spelling for the temple's name, agreeing only to set up a working committee to look at legal issues and to begin mapping the border area.

The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia. -- AFP

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