source:UPI.COM
24 April 2011
URL:http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/24/UN-calls-for-Thai-Cambodian-cease-fire/UPI-10041303648099/

BANGKOK, April 24 (UPI) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked Cambodia and Thailand to end three days of violence that killed seven soldiers since Friday.

Each side blames the other for the violence and Ban said in a statement he is "troubled" by recent clashes.

"The Secretary-General calls on both sides to exercise maximum restraint and to take immediate measures to put in place for an effective and verifiable ceasefire," the U.N. statement said.

Thousands of people near a pair of temples in the Phanom Dong Rak district of Thailand's Surin province have been evacuated from area villages, CNN reported Sunday.

Fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple in February left at least 10 people dead, CNN said.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya Sunday told the Bangkok Post he expects to meet with his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, within the next five days to discuss the conflict.