More than 200 Thai troops now in Cambodia, Phnom Penh says

Jul 16, 2008, 10:18 GMT

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government said Wednesday that a couple hundred Thai troops had moved into its territory in a dispute involving an ancient temple while a Thai military officer denied his country's soldiers had crossed the border.

More than 200 Thai troops were inside Cambodian territory and 380 Cambodian troops were deployed to meet them, Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said while denying bilateral relations were strained.

'They are living altogether, and there is no conflict between them,' he said at a press conference at the Information Ministry.

However, Major Kanok Natrakawessena, commander of the Thai Army's Suranaree task force along Thailand's border with Cambodia, said no Thai soldiers had crossed into Cambodian territory.

According to the Cambodian government, Thai troops clad in black - a colour that evokes memories of the Khmer Rouge to many Cambodians and is regarded as particularly menacing - began arriving Tuesday at the northern Preah Vihear temple, about 300 kilometres north of Phnom Penh.

Tensions have been building since Cambodia again asked UNESCO to list the 11th-century Hindu temple as a World Heritage Site in 2007 and the United Nations cultural body granted that wish on July 9.

The temple was awarded to Cambodia in 1962 by the International Court in The Hague, but the surrounding border area is still disputed, and many Thais were angered by the decision. Thai protesters have been camped out on the border for weeks.

'Please, I urge journalists not to inflame this situation,' Kanharith said.

The Cambodian government has urged calm with national elections, which are held every five years, two weeks away, and Cambodians seem to have obliged.

In 2003, angry Cambodians torched the Thai embassy and some businesses over a false rumour that a Thai actress had said the country's other World Heritage Site, the Angkor Wat temple, was Thai.

Kanharith declined comment on reports that more Thai troops were massing in the north-western Cambodian province of Banteay Meanchey, also on the Thai border and around 200 kilometres from the temple.

Cambodia briefly detained and then released three Thai protesters Tuesday, but their arrest was followed, the Cambodian government said, by the arrival of 40 armed Thai troops at the temple, which is sacred to both sides.

Thailand's Kanok denied Cambodia's claims from Tuesday that some of those Thai soldiers were detained.

Cambodia has said all Thais are free to return after signing agreements that they trespassed on Cambodian soil and apologize. The Cambodian government denied they were under arrest.

Kanharith said Thailand had discussed the issue by telephone with Defence Minister Tea Banh, who has strong Thai connections and speaks fluent Thai, and added Prime Minister Hun Sen and representatives of his Interior and Foreign ministries had also met about the issue Wednesday.

Border authorities were unavailable for comment.