Cambodia says Thailand damaged temples

Cambodia on Monday accused Thailand of damaging two ancient temples during three days of border clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbors that have left at least 12 soldiers dead.



Cambodian armored vehicles stand by near disputed border

There was no immediate comment from Thai authorities, and the extent of the damage was unclear Monday as a precarious calm held in the disputed border region housing the nearly 1,000-year-old stone temples of Ta Moan and Ta Krabey from the Khmer empire.

The current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, was in "intense" talks with both sides to secure an end to the conflict, according to Hamzah Thayeb, a senior official at Indonesia's foreign ministry who oversees Asia-Pacific affairs.

Natalegawa was due in Cambodia on Monday, but Thayeb said the trip was postponed because Indonesia was still negotiating terms on sending in military observers - a move that Thailand has so far vehemently rejected.

The dispute between Cambodia and Thailand involves small swaths of land along the border, with nationalistic politics fueling tensions. Clashes have erupted several times since 2008, when Cambodia's 11th-century Preah Vihear temple was given UN World Heritage status over Thailand's objections.

The current round of clashes is the first reported since February, when eight soldiers and civilians were killed near the Preah Vihear temple, which suffered minor damage from exploding artillery and mortar shells that knocked small chucks out of a few of its walls. The latest fighting is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Preah Vihear.

After easing earlier in the day, fighting resumed late Sunday night, both sides said.

Thai Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Cambodian troops opened fire, killing a Thai soldier. Chea Samrach, a Cambodian soldier on the front line, said Thai snipers killed one Cambodian soldier and wounded two others. Ten soldiers died in the first two days of the clashes.

Cambodia's defence Ministry said Thai forces fired 1,000 artillery and mortar shells Sunday, damaging the two temples. Some shells landed about 12 miles (20 kilometers) inside Cambodian territory, forcing 17,000 people to flee and destroying one school and a dozen homes, and setting ablaze some farming fields, the ministry said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a cease-fire, but the prospects for peace appear shaky, with the two sides disagreeing on what triggered the fighting and differing on how to negotiate the conflicting territorial claims underlying the crisis.

Indonesia's efforts to mediate have been stymied so far by Thailand's reluctance to allow Indonesian military observers in the area of dispute. Thailand insists the problem should be solved through bilateral talks with Cambodia, but Cambodia wants third-party mediation.

The fighting comes as Thailand's military raises its profile in domestic politics ahead of general elections expected by early July. The army previously effectively vetoed a plan to station Indonesian observers to monitor the border situation.

- AP