Cambodia Wants Observers Before Troops Leave Disputed Border With Thailand

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Cambodia wants border observers before troops leave

PHNOM PENH, July 20, 2011 (AFP) - Cambodia on Wednesday said third party observers must be sent to its disputed border with Thailand before it will comply with a UN court order to immediately withdraw troops from the area.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Monday that both countries should remove their forces from the area around the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, scene of deadly clashes earlier this year.

But neither country has yet withdrawn its military presence and Thailand on Tuesday said talks between the neighbours would precede any military pullout.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he had urged Indonesia, currently chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to send observers into the area as soon as possible.

"For Cambodia, Indonesian observers must arrive to examine the area first before we withdraw," he told reporters.

Indonesia has tried to mediate a solution to the conflict on behalf of ASEAN, but has achieved little except the in-principle agreement to allow a small third party team into the area.

The ICJ decision came after Cambodia launched a bitter legal battle before the court in late April in which it asked for an interpretation of a 1962 ruling on the Preah Vihear temple, the centre of a long legal wrangle.

While judges pondered that decision, Cambodia also asked for it to order Thailand to withdraw troops and stop military activity.

A decision on Cambodia's main request for an interpretation of the 1962 order could still take the court several months.

Although Thailand does not dispute Cambodia's ownership of the temple, secured by the 1962 ICJ ruling, both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claim the 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) area surrounding the ancient complex.

In February the United Nations appealed for a permanent ceasefire after 10 people were killed in fighting between the neighbours at the temple site, but fresh clashes broke out further west in April, leaving 18 dead and prompting 85,000 civilians to flee.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-07-20

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Thai Army chief has yet to negotiate pullout term with Cambodia

Army Spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the Thai Army will maintain troops near the Preah Vihear Temple until it negotiates pullout term with Cambodian military.

Sansern said the pullout must be done in a way that neither side would feel at disadvantage so the Army would have to talk to its Cambodian counterpart in the General Border Committee.

-- The Nation 2011-07-20

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Soldiers to be withdrawn provided that Thailand is not at a disadvantage

BANGKOK, 20 July 2011 (NNT)-Army Spokesperson Colonel Sansern Keawkamnerd said Thai troops still remains on the Thai-Cambodian border, adding that it is impossible to abide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to withdraw the troops at this time.

According to the Spokesperson, Thailand will only withdraw its troops from the border with the assurance that it is not at a disadvantage. He added that the solutions to the Preah Vihear issue could still be found within the GBC frameworks.

Another reason for the troops to remain near the border is because the procedure to withdraw them is complicated and it will take a while to get through.

-- NNT 2011-07-20

[aaacorp]

2 children and a (broken) toy....

[slapout]

If the military feel a peace time, retreat, (about face) is complicated wonder what the consider war game exercises?

Reference to 2 kids and a toy, and the military, may be an injustice to children.

[Orac]

At least Cambodia isn't saying they won't withdraw until Thailand does (at the moment!) so there is no stalemate yet. Hopefully, if both countries stay with what is currently being said, then once the indonesian observers are in place, Cambodia can withdraw followed by Thailand.

I am sure it will not be this simple though.

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P Penh: no Troop withdrawal now

By Nuntida Puangthong

The Nation

Bali

Cambodia said yesterday it would not withdraw its troops from a demilitarised zone at the Preah Vihear temple, established by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), before the arrival of an Asean observer team.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong earlier wrote to Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who chairs Asean, asking that Jakarta dispatch its observers to the border area as soon as possible.

"For Cambodia, Indonesian observers must arrive to examine the area first, before we withdraw," he said in Phnom Penh.

However, Asean will not rush the issue, but will give Thailand and Cambodia time to study the ICJ's order on the Preah Vihear dispute before pushing its plan to dispatch the observer team to the demilitarized zone, secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Natalegawa sought meetings with representatives of Thailand and Cambodia attending an Asean meeting in Bali this week for consultations on whether Asean needed to adjust its observers plan, he said.

"Now we are waiting for both countries' opinions and reactions; whether and how they will comply with the court's order," Surin said.

On Monday, the ICJ ordered Thailand and Cambodia to immediately withdraw their troops from the Preah Vihear temple and its vicinity, where the court has set up a demilitarised zone in which all military and armed activities are banned pending its interpretation of a 1962 judgement on the boundary between the two countries, as sought by Cambodia.

The Thai Foreign Ministry's deputy permanent secretary Chitriya Pinthong met Natalegawa yesterday on the sidelines of the Asean meeting to discuss the ICJ's decision and Thai legal procedures on the matter.

Thailand still has no clear plan on how to comply with the court's order. Out-going Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thailand and Cambo-dia needed to talk first about how to comply, but basically Bangkok would not make any decisions before the establishment of a new government.

Bilateral mechanisms such as the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) and General Border Committee (GBC) will be used as diplomatic channels to talk about the troop withdrawal, he said.

Surin, himself a former Thai foreign minister, said Thailand might need more time for the new government to study the court's order and set a policy of compliance.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said he agreed with the idea of calling meetings of the JBC and GBC ahead of the troop pullout, but negotiations would happen only after the new Thai government took office as the out-going Abhisit government had no time to talk.

-- The Nation 2011-07-21