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| Southeast Asia |
| Cambodia urges Asean ceasefire deal with Thailand |
| 2011-02-18 |
| [Straits Times] CAMBODIA said on Thursday it would press Thailand to sign a permanent ceasefire at a regional gathering next week as both countries remained at odds over how to settle a deadly border row. Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia would urge its neighbour to agree a peace deal during a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Jakarta on Tuesday. But Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected the idea of Asean involvement in resolving the dispute, which erupted into armed festivities between the countries earlier this month. Four days of heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting... near a 900-year-old border temple left at least 10 people dead and displaced thousands of families on both sides of the frontier. 'During the upcoming Asean meeting, Cambodia will request that a ceasefire agreement be signed between the Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers under the witness of Asean or the Asean chair,' Hun Sen said at a presser in the Cambodian capital. He also confirmed that his country will call for Asean observers to come to the border area to help ensure a ceasefire holds. |
| Posted by:Fred |