UN court ruling on Cambodia-Thai land dispute

By MIKE CORDER | Associated Press

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  Associated Press/Heng Sinith - A Cambodian Buddhist monk, second from left, walks together with local tourists through the famed Preah Vihear temple near Cambodia-Thai border in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia,  Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. The International Court of Justice rules on a dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over land surrounding the 1,000-year-old temple on Monday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) 

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations' highest court was issuing its ruling Monday on a dispute between Cambodiaand Thailand over land surrounding a 1,000-year-old temple near the Southeast Asian neighbors' border.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple stands in Cambodia, but Thailand says the court did not draw definitive boundaries around the World Heritage-listed site and the two countries' armies have repeatedly clashed there in recent years.

Soldiers from both countries were near the temple over the weekend ahead of the announcement of the judgment at the court's headquarters in The Hague.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said in a statement over the weekend that Thailand and Cambodia have to work together to maintain good relations, regardless of the outcome.

But villagers close to the temple feared that the ruling could trigger new military clashes.

In Srah Kdol, a Cmbodian village about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the temple, several families had left ahead of the verdict and others had dug or were in the process of digging bunkers.

Prak Samouch, 45, said she had packed and was ready to leave if there was fighting. She said she didn't know what the ICJ was but heard about the ruling through word of mouth.

"I'm not scared, because I'm used to it," she said, adding that she last had to leave due to fighting about three years ago.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization put the temple, perched on a rocky plateau overlooking Thailand and Cambodia, on its world heritage list in 2008.

UNESCO called the temple, "an outstanding masterpiece of Khmer architecture, in terms of plan, decoration and relationship to the spectacular landscape environment."

But, ironically, the 2008 listing — intended to help protect the site — instead led to an escalation of long-simmering tensions between Cambodia and Thailand over the 1962 ownership ruling.

In 2011, the court in The Hague created a demilitarized zone around the temple after fighting left about 20 dead and displaced thousands of people, but talks about withdrawing troops went nowhere.

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Associated Press writer Sopheng Cheang contributed from the Preah Vihear temple.