PHNOM PENH, July 16 (Xinhua) — The Cambodian and Thai governments will have a top meeting to solve the matter of nearly 200 Thai troops stationed inside a Cambodian pagoda 200 meters away from the Preah Vihear Temple, a Cambodian official said here on Wednesday.

    The border committees of both countries will have a top meeting as soon as possible to solve the problem of Thai troops who went into a pagoda on Cambodian territory without moving back, Khieu Kanharith, Cambodian Minister of Information and government spokesman, told reporters in a press conference.

    The Thai side will choose the place to discuss the issue, he added.

    "We wanted to have the stable situation like before July 15. The Thai troops …have to return to their places," he said.

    Three Thai protesters were arrested Tuesday for jumping an immigration checkpoint to reach the temple. Thai troops then came to fetch them, thus triggering the face off.

    Cambodian soldiers arrested the three and later freed them all after they signed some documents, Khieu Kanharith said, adding that while both sides were waiting to discuss, those Thai troops equipped with light weapons and military bags were deployed into the pagoda without returning back.

    Meanwhile, about 380 Cambodian troops were living and staying around the same pagoda named Wat Preah Sat and slept inside the pagoda together with Thai troops, he said.

    The Thai troops on Wednesday morning also offered food to Cambodian monks at the pagoda, he added.

    "I am optimistic that we could solve the matter soon," he said, adding that Cambodia and Thailand do not have a military stand-off but it is just a misunderstanding.

    "We stopped Thai troops from entering any further into our territory. The Thai troops are not invaders. They had a misunderstanding about the map. They used their own map and we used our map too that we had the treaty with each other in 1907," he said.

    They claimed that the pagoda they stayed is in the disputed area while Cambodia considers the pagoda as on its territory, he said.

    "We do not have serious situation with the Thai side," he said, adding that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered all troops and governors of provinces bordering with Thailand to continue to have normal relationship and cooperation with Thai side.

    The Preah Vihear temple straddles the Thai-Cambodian border atop the Dangrek Mountain and was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.

    On June 15, 1962, the International Court of Justice decided to award the ancient Angkorian site at the Cambodian-Thai border to Cambodia over the protest of Thailand.

    by Zhang Qiulai

    BANGKOK, July 21 (Xinhua) — The special meeting of the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) concluded Monday evening with both Thailand and Cambodia agreed not to use force to settle their dispute over the borderline near Preah Vihear Temple.

    The meeting started Monday morning in Thailand’s eastern border province of Sa Kaew was called as the military stand off near Preah Vihear Temple reached the six days. Both countries deployed troops and weapons to a plot of 4.6 square kilometer near the temple. The Thai side claimed that the areas are overlapping zones while Cambodia claimed it is in its territory.

    Thai Supreme Commander Gen Boonsang Niempradit and Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Tea Banh who chaired the special meeting emerged at a press conference after nearly eight hours of meeting.

    But, the meeting failed to reach any breakthrough, according to local newspaper the Nation’s website.

    Boonsrang was quoted as saying that the two sides were unable to solve the legal issues involved in the controversy over the temple’ s compound, parts of which are claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia.

    "We will need to consult the government on the law," Boonsrang told a press conference after the lengthy meeting.

    Both countries will remain the number of their troops and weapons there and will order their troops not to use forces in the area, he said.

    Both Boonsang and Tea Banh cited legislation and legal technicalities as obstacles in reaching any agreement on the issue.

    Tea Banh told reporters that both sides tried to lower down the degree of tension during the meeting but failed due to the legislation and legal technicalities.

    Tea Banh and Boonsrang said they will forward the outcome of the meeting to their prime ministers for consideration.

    Earlier, Boonsang said before the meeting that he could not yet say whether the Thai troops stationed near Preah Vihear will be withdrawn as requested by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last week in a diplomatic note sent to his Thai counterpart.

    "It is better to wait for the outcome of the meeting first," Boonsang said, noting that the Thai military will not employ violence to solve this problem.

    He later told local media that "Thailand would offer reasonable proposals to the Cambodian side to consider in order to reduce tensions."

    "It is expected that the Cambodian side would agree to the proposals," he said, expressing hope that his negotiations would be conducted within the good relations existing between Thailand and Cambodia.

    "Also, the talks are expected to become a vital mechanism in solving the border problem at Thailand’s Si Sa Ket Province and at Preah Vihear Province of Cambodia," Boonsang said.

    The military standoff between Cambodia and Thailand entered its seventh day on Monday. Both countries historically laid claim to the 11th century temple, which now sits on Cambodian soil following the action of the International Court of Justice which awarded the ancient temple to Cambodia in 1962. However, the temple can practicably only be accessed from Thailand.

    However, the exact demarcation of the border around the ruins remains in contention.

    The security situation around the temple deteriorated after three Thais, including a Buddhist monk, were briefly detained by Cambodian soldiers after crossing into the disputed border area on Tuesday. The trio were released the same day but refused to leave the 4.6 square kilometer disputed area adjoining the temple complex.

    Thailand first issued a warning that travel to the vicinity of the temple be avoided, but later closed off access altogether within 10 kilometers of the temple.

    PHNOM PENH, July 21 (Xinhua) — The Cambodian side Monday turned down the Thai side’s request to review the border lines, during the meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC) between both countries held in Thai province of Sa Kaew, said a senior Cambodian official.

    "We had good negotiation with the Thai side. We agreed with each other on one point and another, but the Cambodian side didn’t agree the Thai side’s request to review the border lines with us. We already had border lines with the Thai side according to the treaties signed by France and Thailand in 1904 and 1907. It was international border," said Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Tea Banh at a press conference held at the Poit Pet town of Cambodia near the border upon his arrival at homeland.

    "This was the hottest issue (during the meeting), but we just couldn’t accept it," said Tea Banh, who led the Cambodian delegation to Thailand for the eight-hour top-level meeting originally meant to solve the seven-day bilateral military standoff at the border area.

    Meanwhile, Var Kim Hong, chairman of the Cambodian Border Committee and member of the Cambodian delegation to Thailand, said that the Thai side insisted on saying that both sides didn’t have border lines on land and only had border lines in air.

    "We couldn’t accept it because France and Thailand signed border treaties in 1904 and 1907. Actually, we already had border lines and they were stipulated in these international treaties," he added.

    France was protectorate of Cambodia from 1863 to 1953.

    In addition, Tea Banh told reporters at the press conference that the meeting didn’t reach any resolution to withdraw the Thai troops stationed near the Preah Vihear Temple, but the major achievement was the promise made by both sides not to allow any violence and confrontation at the border area near the temple.

    "Both troops won’t mobilize and have to keep calm," he was quoted by national radio VOA as saying.

    The two countries will have more meetings, but the date is not clear yet, the radio added.

    Right after the meeting was over in Thailand, the Cambodian delegation held a joint press conference with the Thai side, saying that they could understand each other and the talks were held in friendly atmosphere, but nothing resulted.

    It included complicated legal matters, so the delegations could not make any decision, they said.

    Anyway, there will be no any violence and confrontation at the border area in order to guarantee a peaceful environment, especially for the ongoing Cambodian general election, whose polling date falls on July 27, they added.

    Before the negotiation, both prime minister had exchanged letters, saying that the two countries should make utmost effort to prevent the border situation from deteriorating, so as to preserve long-lasting friendship and good cooperation between the two peoples.

    Last Tuesday, three Thai protesters trespassed the border to reclaim the temple, but were immediately arrested. Thai troops then came in to fetch them, thus triggering face-off with Cambodian soldiers there. Bilateral military build-up occurred day by day. Currently, the troops there are widely estimated at thousands.

    In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the 11- century classic Khmer-style Preah Vihear Temple, together with the land it occupies, to Cambodia. The decision has rankled the Thais ever since.

    The temple straddles the Thai-Cambodian border atop the Dangrek Mountain and was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.