WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Cambodia, Thailand to meet for new border talks
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-17 14:39 "The tension has eased considerably. There is no more confrontation," Hang Soth said Sunday, calling the troop withdrawals a "good process giving us hope" about the new talks. Information Minister Khieu Kanharith confirmed Sunday that there were only 20 soldiers, 10 Cambodian and 10 Thai, in the grounds of the pagoda. The standoff began on July 15 after UNESCO, the UN's cultural agency, approved Cambodia's application to have the Preah Vihear temple named a World Heritage Site. Both countries have long held claim to the temple, but the World Court awarded it to Cambodia in 1962. About 800 troops from Cambodia and 400 from Thailand confronted each other in the area for a month. Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej had backed Cambodia's World Heritage site bid, sparking demonstrations by Thai anti-government protesters who claimed it would undermine Thailand's claim to the surrounding area. The protests left Samak politically vulnerable, and he sent troops to occupy the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara Buddhist pagoda compound adjacent to Preah Vihear to appease his critics. Cambodia responded with its own troop deployment. |
