Songkiti Jaggabatara (L) shakes hand with Cambodian Commander-in-Chief Pol Saroeun during his visit to Cambodia on 24th August, 2009.
Military 'unhappy with Kasit over border meet'
Writer: Wassana Nanuam & Thanida Tansubhapol
Published: 6/04/2011
Bangkok Post
Indonesian observers will not be allowed to enter the disputed border area surrounding the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple, Supreme Commander Songkitti Jaggabatara says.
Gen Songkitti led the chiefs of the army, the navy and the air force in making the statement at a press conference after a meeting of the military top brass at the Royal Thai Air Force headquarters yesterday.
It was the first time Thai military leaders have formally announced their position on the issue.
Gen Songkitti said the Thai and Cambodian governments signed a memorandum of understanding in 1995 which provides for the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee(GBC) to be set up with defence ministers of the two countries as co-chairs.
He said the 8th GBC meeting must be held in June as was agreed by the two countries at the seventh GBC meeting in Pattaya on Oct 31, last year.
Gen Songkitti said the Thai military has adhered to bilateral commitments between the two countries.
"The Thai military is glad to attend the [next] GBC meeting in Cambodia at the proper venue and at the proper time," Gen Songkitti said.
He stressed that the armed forces are duty-bound to protect the country's territorial sovereignty.
Gen Songkitti said documents related to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Feb 14 this year in New York showed that "the UNSC calls on the two sides" to avoid any actions that could lead to clashes and conflict.
Gen Songkitti insisted that "the two sides" mentioned in the document mean Thailand and Cambodia only.
He also cited a document from an Asean Foreign Ministerial Meeting on Feb 22 this year which "calls on Cambodia and Thailand to resume bilateral negotiations and Indonesia to support the two countries".
In light of this, it was clear that the border dispute must be solved through the existing bilateral mechanisms, including the GBC, Gen Songkitti said.
He said that an agreement the Foreign Ministry had reached with Cambodia and Indonesia to send Indonesian observers to the disputed border area had nothing to do with the military.
A military source said Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and the military top brass were unhappy that Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya had agreed with the proposal for Indonesia to sit in as a mediator on bilateral meetings between the two countries and send its observers to the disputed border area without consulting with the armed forces.
But the Foreign Ministry yesterday played down the military's decision not to accept Indonesian observers.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said the Thai army has not confirmed this with the ministry.
In a related development, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has sent a letter to his Thai counterpart Mr Kasit to make it clear that Cambodia has never agreed to any meetings other than those proposed and hosted by Indonesia.
He sent the letter dated April 4 in response to Mr Kasit who earlier sent a letter dated April 1 which Mr Kasit stated that "... as [host] of the 5th Thai -Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) Meeting, Thailand is ready to convene the Meeting on April 7-8 in [Bogor of Indonesia] ...".
Hor Namhong said in his letter that Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa had proposed to host the JBC meeting.
No comments:
Post a Comment