A Change of Guard

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Thursday 22 December 2011

Cambodian, Thai armies agree to withdraw all troops from disputed area

Gen. Tea Banh (R) and Gen. Yutthasak held a press conference after the agreement was reached.

Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Posted by Serath

PHNOM PENH, (Cambodia Herald)- National Defense Minister Tea Banh announced Wednesday that the Cambodian and Thai armies had agreed to withdraw all soldiers from a disputed border area around the Preah Vihear Temple.

"Both sides agreed to the temporary and simultaneous redeployment of all troops from the positions in the demilitarized zone," he told a news conference after the Eighth General Border Committee meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Yutsak Sasibrapha in Phnom Penh.

He added that a working group would be set up to work out troop redeployments which would be done transparently with Cambodian, Thai and Indonesian observers.

However, Cambodia and Thailand failed to set the date for the troop withdrawal.

"We can not fix the date as the agreement needs to be approved by the cabinet and parliament of Thailand. However, we want it to be done as soon as possible," Yutsak said.

Tea Banh said the Cambodian and Thai armies reaffirmed their commitment to respecting a July 18 order from the International Court of Justice to withdraw troops from the area.

The two armies also agreed to promote cooperation in fields such as maritime security, border crime, illegal logging and drug trafficking.

The next GBC meeting is scheduled to be held in Thailand next year.

Cambodia and Thailand have been engaged in several armed clashes since 2008, causing deaths and damage to both sides.

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