Cambodian minister says Thailand to comply with world court's order

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister H.E. General Tea Banh (Right), Minister of National Defense, shakes hands with visiting Thai Defense Minister H.E. General Yuthasak Sasiprapha, prior to their meeting at Defense Ministry in Phnom Penh Friday morning. Photo: AKP

Investor.com
Posted 09/24/2011

Sep 23, 2011 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) -- Cambodia's national television, government-run Television Kampuchea, in Cambodian at 0824 gmt on 23 September carried a recorded video report, following its midday newscast, on a meeting between Tie Banh, Cambodian deputy prime minister and minister of national defence, and Yuthasak Sasiprapha, Thai defence minister, at the Defence Ministry in Phnom Penh on the afternoon of 23 September.

The newscaster says, "Following the official visit to Cambodia on 15 September by Thai Prime Minister Her Excellency Yinglack Chinnawat [Yinglak Shinawatra], this Friday [23 September], His Excellency [HE] Thai Defence Minister Gen. Yuthasak Sasiprapha made a visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia to hold military talks with HE Senior Gen. Tie Banh, deputy prime minister and minister of national defence, senior army officials, and the head of the Royal Government of Cambodia [RGC].

"At 0900 on the morning of 23 September, Thai Defence Minister Gen. Yuthasak Sasiprapha and his delegation that arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport on board of a special military aircraft were warmly welcomed by HE Gen. Neang Phat, state secretary of the National Defence Ministry, and many other senior Cambodian military officials.

"HE Thai Defence Minister Gen. Yutthasak Sasiprapha and his delegation paid a courtesy call on and held working talks with HE Senior Gen. Tie Banh, Cambodian deputy prime minister and minister of national defence, at the Ministry of Defence following their arrival in Cambodia.

"For almost one hour, the two sides held discussion focusing on the military relations and some issues concerning the settlement of the border problem between Cambodia and Thailand, in particular the acceptance of Indonesian military observers in the Cambodian-Thai border area near the area of Preah Vihear Temple."

In his recorded remarks to reporters at the talks, Tie Banh says that following his appointment, Yutthasak Sasiprapha's visit to Cambodia is to "introduce his position and to discuss some issues in his capacity as an important person in the forthcoming implementation of the order of the International Court of Justice [ICJ]. Therefore, this is significant."

Asked by a reporter about an agreement reached at the meeting, Tie Banh says, "The agreement is that work should continue. However, his [Yutthasak Sasiprapha] confirmation at the talks is that we will comply with all the ICJ's requirements. There is no problem whatsoever with the upcoming implementation."

As to a question about troop redeployment, Tie Banh says "details regarding this issue will be known soon." He cites the Thai defence minister as saying that "preparations have also already been made, but delay still remains due to some problems."

Answering a question of whether Thailand has agreed to accept Indonesian observers, Tie Banh says, "It is very clear that the court order will be implemented. There is requirement in the order that there should be Indonesians as observers. According to his [Yutthasak Sasiprapha] clear remarks, the court order will be complied with."

As for Thai Defence Minister Gen. Yutthasak Sasiprapha, in his recorded statement, in Thai simultaneously translated into Cambodian, to the same group of reporters, he says the reason for the delay in the GBC [General Border Commission] meeting in the past was that "according to Thailand's law, the meeting should be passed by the National Security Council and the Parliament first. It should make it clear that in the past the government did not raise the issues to be discussed with the Cambodian side at cabinet meetings. Therefore, this government should bring those issues up at the Council of Ministers' meeting first. The Thai Defence Ministry has already made preparations to take part in the GBC's meeting."

Continuing his report, the newscaster says that according to a schedule released by the Cambodian Defence Ministry, during his "one and half day official visit" to the Kingdom of Cambodia, Thai Defence Minister Gen. Yutthasak Sasiprapha will pay a "courtesy call" on Prime Minister Hun Sen this afternoon.

It should be pointed out, he adds, that the visit to Cambodia of the Thai defence minister is a "sign of the resumption of good military cooperation of the two countries, Cambodia and Thailand."

To conclude, the newscaster says Gen. Yutthasak Sasiprapha and his delegation "planned to leave Cambodia at 1000 on 24 September."

Source: Television Kampuchea, Phnom Penh, in Cambodian 0824gmt 23 Sep 11

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