Thailand, Cambodia agree on troop withdrawal
PHNOM PENH — Thailand and Cambodia said they agreed Wednesday to redeploy troops "completely and simultaneously" from a shared border area that has been the scene of deadly clashes.
The neighbours' defence ministers and army chiefs agreed to redeploy troops away from the disputed area near an ancient temple, where bloody spats have broken out twice this year, killing 28 people.
They agreed to set up a working group on "redeployment of their military personnel completely and simultaneously from their current positions in the provisional demilitarised zone at the earliest," said a joint statement released after the meeting.
The withdrawal should be organised in the presence of observers from Indonesia, it said.
In February, 10 people were killed in fighting at the Preah Vihear temple site and fresh clashes broke out further west in April, leaving 18 dead.
Tensions have eased since Thailand's new premier Yingluck Shinawatra came to power in August. Her brother, fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is a friend and former economics adviser of Cambodian premier Hun Sen.
The Hague-based International Court of Justice in July asked both nations to withdraw military personnel from around the temple complex, but neither side has pulled out yet, though the border has been calm.
Thailand does not dispute Cambodia's ownership of Preah Vihear, but both sides claim a 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) area of adjacent land.
AFP
