Cambodian premier expresses "regret" over Thai temple plan

Jun 18, 2009, 8:29 GMT

   Phnom Penh - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Thursday expressed 'deep regret' over suggestions by his Thai counterpart that an 11th-century Hindu temple ruin in a disputed border region be jointly administered by the neighboring countries.

   Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Wednesday that he would ask UNESCO, which administers the Preah Vihear temple under Cambodian supervision, to launch a review into the administration of the World Heritage-listed site.

   'I want to see the temple be a peaceful area so that the people of the two countries can jointly benefit from this site of high historical importance,' the Bangkok Post quoted Abhisit as saying.

   But Hun Sen said Abhisit's plan threatened to violate Cambodia's sovereignty and was not raised in a meeting between the two leaders on Friday in Phnom Penh.

   'I deeply regret that he has raised this issue now because this was not part of our discussions last week,' he told reporters at the Cambodian Foreign Ministry. 'I doubt his plan will be successful.'

   Hun Sen and Abhisit on Friday pledged to prevent further armed conflict at the site, where two fatal skirmishes between the South-East Asian neighbors have erupted in the past year.

   Two Cambodian soldiers were killed in clashes in July and another skirmish in April left two Thai soldiers dead and dozens injured on both sides.

   Abhisit's visit to Phnom Penh was viewed as an attempt to soothe relations after the clashes at the temple, which has been at the centre of disputed claims between Thailand and Cambodia since the 1950s.

   The temple was granted to Cambodia in a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling, but Thailand claims the land around the site.

   UNESCO in July granted Preah Vihear World Heritage Site status, despite Thai objections.