Apr 24, 2011
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The Cambodia Defence Ministry condemned "these repeated deliberate acts of aggression" and called on Thailand to cease "hostilities". It accused Thailand of firing cluster munitions - anti-personnel weapons banned by many countries - and 75 and 105 mm shells "loaded with poisonous gas".
PHNOM PENH - As a second day of fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops yesterday killed at least four soldiers, the border crisis is likely to cast a shadow on the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit next month.
Indonesia, the current chair of ASEAN, has urged restraint, even as the 18th ASEAN meeting, scheduled to be held in the Jakarta from May 7 to 8, may turn the spotlight on the capital's role.
As part of a ceasefire deal, Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Feb 22 to allow unarmed military observers from Indonesia to be posted along their border.
But that arrangement - brokered at an ASEAN meeting at the urging of the United Nations - has yet to be put in place. Thailand said international observers were not required, insisting the neighbours should resolve the issue bilaterally.
"We are calling for Cambodian leaders to return to the negotiable table," said Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya. On Friday, he said the international community had no place in the matter, responding to a letter from Cambodia addressed to ASEAN stating Thailand had staged "a large-scale attack".
The two-day death toll mounted to 11 yesterday, the worst bloodshed since the UN called for a ceasefire in February.
Thousands of villagers have been evacuated from the disputed border area in thick jungles around the Ta Moan and Ta Krabey temples, about 150 km west of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple which saw a deadly four-day standoff in February.
Thai army Lieutenant-General Thawatchai Samutsakorn said one Thai soldier had been killed. A local hospital said 13 were wounded.
Mr Suos Sothea, deputy commander of Cambodia's artillery unit in the area, said 11 Cambodian soldiers had been wounded, bringing the two-day toll of wounded on both sides to at least 43.
The Cambodia Defence Ministry condemned "these repeated deliberate acts of aggression" and called on Thailand to cease "hostilities". It accused Thailand of firing cluster munitions - anti-personnel weapons banned by many countries - and 75 and 105 mm shells "loaded with poisonous gas".
Mr Piromya denied those charges as "groundless". Both countries have been locked in a standoff since July 2008, when Preah Vihear was granted UNESCO World Heritage status, which Thailand opposed on the grounds that the land around the temple had never been demarcated.
An international court awarded the temple to Cambodia 49 years ago but both countries lay claim to a 4.6-sq km patch of land around it.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told The Bangkok Post on Friday that "Indonesia as chair of ASEAN strongly calls for the cessation of hostilities".
"I call for both sides to resolve their differences through peaceful means. The use of force has no place in relations among ASEAN member countries," said the ASEAN chairman.
However, he admitted earlier this month that the conflict could have a short-term, negative impact on creating a ASEAN community, China's Xinhua news agency reported. Nonetheless he expressed optimism about resolving the conflict.
"I think, in the short term, my answer would be it is troubling, it is creating special challenges for ASEAN but, in the longer term, if we could get it right, it will have a huge positive impact," he said. He added that it was the first time ASEAN member countries had tried to settle this kind of conflict directly.
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