Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh and his Thai counterpart
Sukumpol Suwanatat (pictured) agreed on Monday to urge the two countries' Joint
Working Group (JWG) to speed up their talks towards troop withdrawal
from the disputed border area surrounding the 11th century Preah Vihear
temple.
"We agreed to have the JWG convene the 2nd meeting in Phnom Penh next
month to continue discussion about the troop withdrawal," Tea Banh told
reporters after the meeting. "We stressed our commitment to comply with
the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as soon as
possible."
Speaking to reporters through an interpreter, Sukumpol Suwanatat said
that he hoped that the JWG would be able to conclude their talks
towards the pullout in the next month's meeting.
"Thailand also wants to speed up the process towards the troop
pullout because Thailand thinks that the slow process towards the
pullout is not good for Thailand," he said, adding the major obstacle
for the issue was landmines in the area.
Cambodia and Thailand established the JWG in last December to work
for the complete and simultaneous redeployment of the two countries'
military personnel from the Provisional Demilitarized Zone (PDZ)
surrounding Preah Vihear temple in order to comply with the ICJ's order.
The 1st JWG meeting was held in early April in Bangkok, Thailand.
Cambodia and Thailand have had sporadic border conflict over
territorial dispute near Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple since the UNESCO
listed the temple as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008 and
witnessed fierce clashes in February and April 2011 during Thailand's
Democrat Party rule.
On April 28, 2011, Cambodia submitted a request to the ICJ for
interpretation of its judgment on June 15, 1962 in the case concerning
the ancient temple. It was accompanied by an urgent request for
provisional measures in which Cambodia demands Thailand immediately and
unconditionally withdraw troops from area surrounding the ruined temple.
During the interval of waiting for the verdict interpretation, the
ICJ ordered Cambodia and Thailand on July 18, 2011 to immediately
withdraw their military personnel from the PDZ and allow ASEAN observers
(Indonesians) to access to the zone to monitor ceasefire.
However, to date, neither Cambodia nor Thailand has withdrawn its troops from the 17.3 square kilometer PDZ.
Sukumpol Suwanatat arrived here on Monday morning to join the 6th
ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting, which is scheduled on May 28- 30.
4 comments:
This territorial belongs to Khmer Surin and Cambodia, Thai has nothing to lost on these area.
Please go back, where you came from and let our brother/sisters live in peace.
don't believed this idiot , will never happened,
Khmer governments, needs to bring adhisit admn to UN war crimes by incited war n destroyed Preah Vihear world heritage and used illegal weapons,
Teach the thieves the lesson of their lifetime if their noses pock into our land,our ancestors had done once before we sure can do it again....Remembered the name "Siam Riep" what does it means in Khmer language...? You got my point!?..... Pull out or face the consequence....
Khmer
They need to establish border posts and fends first before the troops have to pull out; otherwise any party would likely violate the agreement without notice. Good fends make good neighbors. They can also have an agreement to have all military personals as well as civilian authorities not to carrying certain type of weapons inside the ZONE.
Post a Comment