LEAD: Thailand rejects ASEAN role in border row, Cambodia appeals to U.N.

SINGAPORE, July 22 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING)

ASEAN foreign ministers decided Tuesday not to immediately set up a ''contact group'' to mediate the border standoff between Thailand and Cambodia, after Thailand opposed the idea on grounds the two countries should try to resolve their dispute bilaterally before seeking the help of outsiders.

''We think it's premature to set up the contact group since we can deal with the dispute by ourselves,'' Thai Deputy Prime Minister Sahas Bunditkul told reporters after an informal lunch with other foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, in an interview with Kyodo News in Phnom Penh, expressed regret over the ASEAN decision and said it appears Cambodia has little choice now but to seek help from the U.N. Security Council.

''Cambodia is not in a very joyful position to resolve the issue through the U.N. Security Council but Cambodia is forced to do so, or otherwise Cambodia has to accept the de facto occupation of Thai armed forces,'' he said.

The ASEAN lunch meeting was hastily called after Cambodia the previous evening sought ASEAN mediation in the dispute following the failure of bilateral talks earlier Monday between Thai Supreme Commander Gen. Boonsang Niempradit and Cambodia's Defense Minister Tea Banh failed achieve a breakthrough.

An ASEAN official, who asked not to be identified, said the ASEAN foreign ministers were '' trying to convince both sides to accept our offer to play a mediating role'' during the lunch.

''We have to defuse the tension as soon as possible because it's going to be bad for ASEAN,'' the official said.

The official said Cambodia felt the urgency of getting ASEAN's help on the matter probably because the chairmanship of the grouping will be passed from Singapore to Thailand later this week, and it would then become ''awkward'' for ASEAN to mediate, with Thailand as the chair.

In a letter sent Monday to Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo, as chair of this week's series of ASEAN ministerial meetings in Singapore, Hor Namhong accepted ASEAN's earlier offer of mediation and asked him to form an ''ASEAN Inter-Ministerial Group'' comprising the foreign ministers of Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos.

He said the group would be asked ''to help find a peaceful solution to the current crisis and to avoid military confrontation between two ASEAN members.''

The dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over a border area near an ancient temple of Preah Vihear, which was recently inscribed as a World Heritage site, has flared up in recent days and threatened to escalate into armed conflict.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan told reporters after the lunch that ASEAN ''stands ready to extend any support if the two sides would like ASEAN to play a role.''

It marks ''the first time ASEAN is facing a border predicament,'' Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said.

If Thailand were to join Cambodia in accepting ASEAN mediation, it would mark the first time in its 41-year-long history for it to be asked to tackle a border conflict between its 10 members -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Sahas said Yeo intends to reply to the letter from Hor Namhong in a neutral way by reiterating a statement the ASEAN chair made Monday in which he urged Thailand and Cambodia ''to exercise utmost restraint and resolve this issue amicably, in the spirit of ASEAN solidarity and good neighborliness.''

It was in that same statement that Yeo had said ASEAN had ''decided to offer its facilities to be placed at the disposal of Cambodia and Thailand, in the event that they felt the need for further support to find an early resolution to the issue.''

Cambodia accepted that offer after its bilateral talks with Thailand on Monday in a special meeting of the two countries' General Border Committee in the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet ended with only pledges to refrain from violence and avert armed confrontation.

Hor Namhong, who is not participating in this week's ASEAN meetings in Singapore as he is involved in Cambodia's general election set for Sunday, told diplomats Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council plans to hold an emergency meeting next Monday on the Cambodia-Thailand military standoff, in response to Cambodia's request for such a meeting.

His stand-in at the ASEAN meetings, Kao Kim Hourn described the border situation to ASEAN foreign ministers at Tuesday's lunch as ''grave,'' according to Sahas.

Sahas disputed that assessment, however, saying the General Border Committee meeting was constructive and would be followed by series of bilateral meetings until the dispute ends peacefully.

In other developments, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday sent the letter to U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Director General Koichiro Matsuura urging UNESCO to protect the Preah Vihear temple in light of the military standoff in the area.

''The Royal Government of Cambodia would like to request UNESCO to take the urgent action for the protection of this World Heritage site'', Hun Sen said in the letter.

The Cambodian premier referred to the World Heritage Convention and asked UNESCO to remind Thailand to comply with its obligations under the convention, the U.N. Charter and the judgment of International Court of Justice.

The ancient cliff-top temple was inscribed as a World Heritage site on July 7, capping seven years of efforts by Phnom Penh over Bangkok's objections.

Thailand had occupied the area from 1949 when Cambodia was a French protectorate, but Cambodia won possession of the temple through an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962.

(with Puy Kea in Phnom Penh)

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Publication:	Asian Political News
Date:	Jul 28, 2008
Words:	933
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