Cambodia says UNESCO not postpone Preah Vihear temple’s management plan

PHNOM PENH, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has not postponed the consideration of the management plan for Preah Vihear temple, scheduled for June 19-29 at the 35th session of World Heritage Committee, the cabinet minister Sok An, Chairman of the Cambodian National Commission for UNESCO, said on Friday night.
   Sok An’s assertion was made after the Thai state media MCOT online news reported on Friday Thai Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suwit Khunkitti said the UNESCO supported Thailand's request for the agency's World Heritage Committee (WHC) to postpone consideration of the management plan for the areas surrounding the World Heritage-listed temple, pending demarcation of the border between Thailand and Cambodia.
   Sok An said that Suwit Khunkitti had raised the postponement request to the UNESCO during the meeting on May 25-26 on Preah Vihear temple issues at the UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris, France under the mediation by the UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
   “But the Thai request has not fulfilled because we (Cambodia) disagreed to postpone it,” he said in a live telephone interview from Paris by the local Cambodian Television Network. “It is completely untrue that Thailand said the UNESCO agreed to postpone the consideration of the Preah Vihear temple’s management plan.”
  The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962 and the temple was enlisted as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.
   The border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand occurred just a week after the enlistment as Thailand claims the ownership of 4. 6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple.
   Since then, both sides have built up military forces along the border and periodic clashes have happened, resulting in the deaths of troops and civilians on both sides.
   The two sides agreed to accept Indonesian observers to monitor a ceasefire on their respective border side on Feb. 22 at the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Jakarta, but the deployment was always delayed because Thailand demanded that Cambodian soldiers and locals be withdrawn from the disputed area of 4.6 sq km near the temple first. (Nguon Sovan)