Cambodian PM: Cambodian, Thai GBC meeting to hold bilaterally, but report to ASEAN, ICJ

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Thursday the Cambodia-Thailand General Border Commission meeting can be held bilaterally, except the talks on the provisional demilitarized zone of about 17 kilometers surrounding the 11th century Preah Vihear temple.
   “The GBC meeting will be held bilaterally between Cambodian and Thai defense ministers without the presence of Indonesia after the visit of the new Thai defense minister [Yutthasak Sasiprapa] to Cambodia,” he said during a graduation ceremony of students at the Human Resources University.
   “But when saying about the 17 kilometers of the provisional demilitarized area defined by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), it’s necessary to have the presence of Indonesia,” he said.
   However, he added: “If the Indonesia, ASEAN chair, has not attended the meeting, Cambodia and Thailand have to report her and the International Court of Justice about the results of the meeting.”
   "And when Cambodia and Thailand agree to withdraw troops from the area of 17 kilometers, there must be the presence of Indonesia too," he said.
   Hun Sen said Cambodia and Thailand have to re-build confidence between each other to bring peace along the border and to bring the border situation to normalcy.
   “The new era of cooperation between Cambodia and Thai government led by Pheu Thai Party has begun,” he said. “In last few years, border conflict between the two countries can be considered as the nightmare, now it is over,” he said.
   The border tension between the two countries has been eased since the former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai Party won a landslide victory in the July 3’s general elections, said the premier.
   Cambodia and Thailand have had sporadic border conflict over territorial dispute near the Preah Vihear temple since the UNESCO listed the 11th century Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.
   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.