Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) meets with ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (L) at his house in the Kamdal province, near the outskirts of Phnom Penh November 11 ,2009. Thailand formally asked Cambodia on Wednesday to extradite fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin in a widening diplomatic row that threatens to worsen Thailand's political crisis. Thailand's embassy in Phnom Penh submitted the request for extradition a day after he arrived in Cambodia to take up a job as economic adviser to the Cambodian government, a move that has infuriated the Thai authorities. The diplomatic spat looks set to undermine any attempt by Southeast Asian leaders to project a united front in talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday in Singapore, the first-ever meeting between a U.S. leader and all 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) REUTERS/Stringer
(CAMBODIA POLITICS)Earlier in the morning, Thailand submitted a letter to Cambodia' s government requesting the country to extradite Thaksin to Thailand.
However, the ministry could not explain in details about the official denial from Cambodia, the spokeswoman said.
"Involved legal divisions are now looking at the details of the official denial letter from Cambodia," the spokeswoman said.
Asked for the next movement to be made by Thailand, the spokeswoman said the involved legal divisions will consider the denial letter of Cambodia prior to suggesting for the next movement by Thailand.
In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Wednesday it is not easy to ask Cambodia to extradite Thaksin to Thailand, Thai News Agency reported.
The Thai government has not had any other special means, apart from the diplomatic practice in asking Cambodia to extradite Thaksin.
Meanwhile, the International Police can report only about Thaksin's movement to the Thai government, Suthep said.
The government announced Tuesday that apart from the ASEAN member countries, the International Police together with others in the international community have been asked to closely monitor Thaksin's movement and to arrest him immediately and send Thaksin to Thailand.
Also, Suthep said he is worried about Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's giving interview to media since through media interview Hun Sen has challenged Thailand to close the Thai-Cambodian border.
But, Thailand will not use emotion to make any decision on the Thai-Cambodian border, Suthep said.
Thailand and Cambodia have downgraded their diplomatic relations due to conflict over the appointment of Thaksin as an economic advisor to Cambodia's government on Nov. 4.
A day after the appointment of Thaksin, the Cambodian government announced recall of its ambassador to Thailand in a move to respond to the Thai government's recall of its ambassador to Cambodia.
Thaksin, who arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday, will on Thursday hold a briefing with over 300 Cambodian economics experts at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Hun Sen said earlier.
Thaksin was ousted by the military coup in September 2006, in accusation of corruption, and has been kept in exile since then.
He returned to Thailand in February 2008 to face corruption charges, but later fled into exile again and was convicted in absentia.
Editor: Zhang Xiang
No comments:
Post a Comment