The Washington Post
By Ambika Ahuja
Reuters
Friday, November 27, 2009; 2:37 AM
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand and Cambodia said on Friday a recent diplomatic row will not lead to conflict on their heavily armed common border where troops have clashed in deadly exchanges in the past year.
Relations deteriorated after the appointment of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, on the run from a graft conviction, as an adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who infuriated Thai authorities by hosting Thaksin this month.
Cambodia rejected Bangkok's request to extradite Thaksin, who was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for violating a conflict-of-interest law in Thailand.
"Thai and Cambodian armed forces will support every mechanism between the two countries to improve ties," Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told a news conference after meeting his Cambodian counterpart in Pattaya, southeast of Bangkok.
"The highest goal would be the safety of the public and sustainable peace at the border," he said after a two-day meeting of the Thai-Cambodia General Border Committee, a forum that meets a few times a year to discuss military ties.
The two countries recalled their ambassadors in the Thaksin row and Cambodia arrested a Thai engineer working for Cambodia Air Traffic Services, accusing him of sending Thaksin's flight schedule to a Thai diplomat, who was expelled by Phnom Penh.
The row raised concerns that tension may escalate, leading to more armed clashes at the border.
But following Thaksin's departure from Cambodia, officials on both sides of the border have been more measured and deliberate in their comments and Thailand held back on plans to freeze low-interest loans to its neighbor.
"Cambodia will not do anything that would affect the public in both countries. We will avoid any action that would lead to a conflict between the two countries," Cambodian Defense Minister Gen Tea Banh told the news conference.
Sovereignty over land surrounding an 11th century temple, Preah Vihear, has been disputed by Thailand and Cambodia since the withdrawal of the French in the 1950s.
The International Court of Justice awarded sovereignty over the temple to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling which still upsets many Thais. The surrounding land remains in dispute because the two countries use different maps.
Nationalist passions have flared on both sides of border following Cambodia's bid to have the ancient temple designated a UNESCO World Heritage site last year. Both countries deployed troops to the border over the dispute, leading to skirmishes that left at least seven soldiers dead.
Cambodia said on November 13 it withdrew 1,000 special forces troops from the area, though others remained.
On Friday, Prawit said the troops on both sides had a "peaceful relationship." But the two did not make any commitment to withdraw troops from the disputed land surrounding Preah Vihear, a move which would require parliamentary approval in Thailand.
Thaksin was ousted in a coup in 2006 but remains at the heart of a political conflict in Thailand which have seen protests and counter-protests in support and opposition of the toppled premier.
(Writing by Ambika AHuja; Editing by Jason Szep)
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