Cambodia calls for negotiations to resolve border disputes with Thailand

Fri Apr 3, 2009

Cambodia refugees are seen in Sra Em village after leaving Preah Vihear temple, where Thai and Cambodian soldiers exchanged rifle and rocket fire, in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh April 3, 2009. Thai and Cambodian soldiers exchanged rocket and rifle fire on a disputed stretch of their border on Friday, killing two Thais in the latest flare-up of an ancient feud over the 900-year-old Hindu temple.

REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA POLITICS CONFLICT)

PHNOM PENH, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia insisted that all the incidents along the Cambodian-Thai border be resolved through negotiations, but reserved rights of self-defense, said an official statement received here on Saturday.

"Cambodia has good will and has exercised the utmost restraints in order to find a peaceful solution to the border issues with Thailand through bilateral mechanism. However, Cambodia reserves its rights to self-defense and to protect its national territorial integrity," said the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in its letter addressed to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Cambodia hopes that the same sentiment and commitment is reciprocated by the Thai side in order to put an immediate and definite end to the border disputes," it added.

In the letter, the ministry also outlined the whole process and details of the two rounds of crossfire that occurred on Friday at the border area near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

The gunfire exchange took place after well-armed Thai troops intruded on Cambodian lands, respectively around 07:12 local time (0012 GMT) and 14:00 local time (0700 GMT) "within the territory under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cambodia," and the first clash lasted 7 to 8 minutes and the second 35 minutes, it said.

"The Thai forces fired rounds of DK recoilless rifles, 12.7 heavy machine-guns, B 40 Rocket launchers, M79 launchers and other weaponries" during the clashes, it said.

"It is very regrettable that Thai armed intrusions continue to occur repeatedly in the same areas" near the border, and "these acts of violation have compelled the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces to exercise their rights to self-defense and to protect the Cambodian territorial integrity," it added.

Four Thai soldiers were killed and 10 arrested by the Cambodian side during the two rounds of fighting on Friday, according to Cambodian government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith, who did not provide the casualty numbers on the Cambodian side.

Since July 2008, troops from both sides have stationed near the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and two armed confrontations last year sparked brief concerns of war.

The two neighboring countries have never fully demarcated their disputed border, partly due to the landmines left over from decades of civil war in Cambodia.

Editor: Bi Mingxin