Cambodian gov't agrees to contain temple vandalism with int'l intervention

PHNOM PENH, The Cambodian government has agreed to ask for international intervention to help contain vandalism of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple at the border area with Thailand, national media said on Tuesday.

The government agrees with the proposals submitted by some NGOs(non-government organization) to guarantee the security of the temple with international law, and sue any ruiner for vandalism at the international community, spokesman of the Cambodian Council of Ministers Phay Siphan told Chinese-language daily newspaper the Commercial News.

The temple was awarded with the title of World Heritage Site inJuly 2008 by UNESCO (the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization), and it deserves Cambodian as well as international management and protection, he said.

It is a pity that UNESCO is only a cultural organization and can't handle lawsuits, he said, adding that the government is collecting evidence of Thai vandalism of the temple in order to help terminate such acts and seek for compensation.

Two armed confrontations between Cambodian and Thai troops at the border area in early April, together two others last year, have left a number of bullet pits and other ruins on the temple.

The damages have prompted NGOs to protest for the sake of the intactness of the historical site. They also urged the Cambodian side to take legal actions against the Thai side.

Cambodia and Thailand have never fully demarcated their over 800-km-long land border, but the International Court in Hague ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple and its surrounding area should belong to Cambodia.