Cambodia asks Vietnam to mediate border dispute with Thailand

In a letter to his Vietnamese counterpart (right above) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Mr Hor Namhong (left above) said the two countries would not be able to reach a deal without outside support.

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 14 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Cambodia on Saturday stepped up its diplomatic campaign over a festering border dispute with Thailand, urging Vietnam to help break the stalemate and avoid a "large-scale armed conflict" between the two neighboring countries.

Cambodia's deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Hor Namhong, sought Vietnam's mediation in a letter to his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Gia Khiem.

Vietnam is the current chairman of ASEAN, the regional group whose membership includes both Cambodia and Thailand.

Hor Namhong urged Vietnam to mediate in the border dispute "as the current stalemate has extinguished any hope of further bilateral negotiations and in order to avoid any large scale armed conflict" with Thailand.

On Thursday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said he wants U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to help solve the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand when the U.N. chief visits the region later this year.

Thailand claims a 4.6 square-kilometer area of land around Preah Vihear, an ancient Hindu temple that lies inside Cambodia according to a 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice.

Since the temple was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2008, Thai and Cambodian troops have faced off in the area and deadly skirmishes have erupted on several occasions.

Tension was renewed after Cambodia recently submitted a management plan for the temple that Thailand rejected on the grounds that the border area has not been demarcated.