PHNOM PENH, Feb. 12 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The Cambodian government said Saturday that it has expressed its readiness to attend the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting to be held in Jakarta on Feb. 22 on the border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand.
Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong (pictured) told Kyodo News that Cambodia replied to Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who is also the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, on the proposed meeting.
In the letter dated Friday, Marty proposed to ASEAN member states to hold an "Informal Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers" in Jakarta on Feb. 22 in the afternoon.
The letter proposed that the topic for discussion will be "regional and international issues," which is in reference to the current border row between Cambodia and Thailand -- both members of ASEAN.
If the meeting is accepted by all member states, especially the key party concerned, Thailand, it will be the second time with a third party's participation in the border conflict, which Cambodia insists upon.
At the appeal of the Cambodian government, the United Nations Security Council will convene its first meeting on the issue in New York next Monday.
The foreign ministers from the two nations are on the way there along with Marty Natalegawa.
Thailand has been insisting that the border resettlement will be continued at the bilateral level, but Cambodia said this mechanism will never work out, saying it had already failed despite many rounds of talks over the past two years.
The border row stemmed from the use of two different maps, and tension has heated up again recently, leading the situation to armed clashes, or even "real war" as Cambodia called it, following the latest four- day fighting that only ended on Monday. It resulted in the loss of at least eight lives and nearly 100 others injured including civilians from both sides.
The dispute occurs at the area near Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple which was registered as a World Heritage Site in July 2008.
Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong (pictured) told Kyodo News that Cambodia replied to Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who is also the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, on the proposed meeting.
In the letter dated Friday, Marty proposed to ASEAN member states to hold an "Informal Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers" in Jakarta on Feb. 22 in the afternoon.
The letter proposed that the topic for discussion will be "regional and international issues," which is in reference to the current border row between Cambodia and Thailand -- both members of ASEAN.
If the meeting is accepted by all member states, especially the key party concerned, Thailand, it will be the second time with a third party's participation in the border conflict, which Cambodia insists upon.
At the appeal of the Cambodian government, the United Nations Security Council will convene its first meeting on the issue in New York next Monday.
The foreign ministers from the two nations are on the way there along with Marty Natalegawa.
Thailand has been insisting that the border resettlement will be continued at the bilateral level, but Cambodia said this mechanism will never work out, saying it had already failed despite many rounds of talks over the past two years.
The border row stemmed from the use of two different maps, and tension has heated up again recently, leading the situation to armed clashes, or even "real war" as Cambodia called it, following the latest four- day fighting that only ended on Monday. It resulted in the loss of at least eight lives and nearly 100 others injured including civilians from both sides.
The dispute occurs at the area near Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple which was registered as a World Heritage Site in July 2008.
1 comment:
Surin Pitsuwan, your role as secretary is a big failure, you can not even produce the consensus among your nationals.Let the UNSC take care this affair and do no attempt to wrestle the case back to ASEAN where you can manipulate.You are a PhD right? A pubic hair dresser ?
Post a Comment