Cambodian-Thai talks see deal but no timeframe on troop drawdown

Monsters and critics
Dec 22, 2011,

Phnom Penh (DPA)- Cambodia and Thailand agreed to withdraw troops from a contested border area but had not fixed a timetable to do so, media reports said Thursday.

The neighbours agreed to implement a July ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague that ordered them to remove troops from an area near the 11th-century temple of Preah Vihear and allow Indonesian observers to monitor a ceasefire, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper said.

'Therefore, there should be no obstacle,' Cambodian Minister of Defence Tea Banh said at a meeting Wednesday in Phnom Penh, 'and I would like to confirm that the process will work with the participation of Indonesian, Cambodian and Thai observers.'