Cambodia wants UN chief to mediate with Thailand

By SOPHENG CHEANG

Associated Press

2010-08-12 09:42 PM

Cambodia's prime minister said Thursday he will ask United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help mediate talks he is proposing to help settle a border dispute with neighboring Thailand.

Speaking to government officials in the capital Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said he will raise the issue with Ban during the U.N chief's official visit to Cambodia on Oct. 27-28.

Thailand and Cambodia both claim a 1.8-square-mile (4.6-square-kilometer) patch of land near the cliff-top Preah Vihear temple. Hun Sen on Monday proposed an international conference to discuss the dispute "because the bilateral discussion is at an impasse now."

"We will request the United Nations Secretary-General to be the coordinator," Hun Sen said Thursday.

Thailand opposes the idea as unnecessary because a 2000 agreement between the two countries provides the framework for a solution.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday accused Cambodia of causing the current problem by moving people onto the disputed land. Both countries have a heavy troop presence in the area and have had several small but sometimes deadly clashes in the past few years.

The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the 11th century temple belongs to Phnom Penh.

UNESCO named it a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied for the status. The country submitted a management plan for the temple recently to UNESCO's World Heritage Commission, which deferred a decision until next year.

Abhisit is under pressure to move aggressively because Thai right-wing nationalists have protested that Cambodian actions there threaten Thailand's sovereignty.

Domestic political pressure limits Abhisit's ability to make compromises, while Hun Sen _ who runs Cambodia with an iron hand _ can act without much fear of criticism, and seems to enjoy taunting his Thai counterpart. His antagonism toward Abhisit's government may be ascribed to the Thai leader appointing as his foreign minister Kasit Piromya, who before taking the post had insulted Hun Sen in public speeches as a gangster and a bum.