Sunday, 5 April 2009

Political will needed on border

The Nation

By The Nation
Published on April 5, 2009

Is Hun Sen turning on Thailand because of his frustration with the trial at home?

For much of this past year or so, Thailand and Cambodia have been at each other's throats over the overlapping claims along the common border near an ancient Hindu temple. It came about as Phnom Penh was seeking World Heritage Site status from Unesco for the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple.

Bangkok's position has always been that both countries be the host of the Unesco bid as a way of depoliticising the overlapping territory. The idea of jointly registering changed when the Samak Sundaravej government endorsed Phnom Penh's unilateral bid and Unesco went with it even after a Thai court ruled the endorsement unconstitutional because Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama did not have Parliament's approval.

It was election time in Cambodia, and Thailand's feelings had to take a back seat to Hun Sen's political agenda. He had to look strong, and hence the uncompromising position.

But neither his election victory nor the Unesco-conferred prestigious status brought him peace of mind. The desired outcome was nowhere to be found as officials from both sides dragged their feet over the overlapping claims, effectively diminishing Cambodia's efforts to cash in on the World Heritage Site status of the temple.

Today there are other things on Hun Sen's mind than the affairs of his People Party, and this time around it appears to have got the better of him.

Cambodia watchers say Hun Sen, himself a former Khmer Rouge commander, is frustrated with the idea of putting more Khmer Rouge cadres on trial for crimes against humanity during the Pol Pot regime from 1975-9 and has been lashing out at everybody around him.

Last week Hun Sen told a gathering in Sihanoukville that the joint UN-Cambodian court could plunge the country back into civil war if more Khmer Rouge cadres were put on trial.

"I would prefer to see this tribunal fail than see war return to my country," Hun Sen said a day after the joint UN-Cambodian court resumed its trial of Duch, Pol Pot's chief torturer of the S-21 prison, where more than 14,000 people were put to death. He is the first of five ageing senior cadres to face trial.

The Phnom Penh government has denied meddling in the court, but rights activists said that some of that digging might unearth the horrific past of some of the people in Hun Sen's administration.

Hun Sen may be frustrated at the idea of digging up dirt from the past, or, as he claims, turning the clock back to a civil war. However, it doesn't help to lash out at everybody around him, including Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

Last week, Hun Sen lashed out at Kasit over a statement he made several months ago during a street protest prior to taking up his current position. One cannot help but ask why he waited so long. Besides, all of us were led to believe that the two men had turned over a new leaf after Kasit's official visit.

Over this past weekend, troops on both sides of the border remained on high alert for fear of more clashes. The last one was much bigger than the October 2008 clashes that came after Hun Sen issued an ultimatum to Thai troops to back away from the overlapping areas.

Over the weekend, Hun Sen softened his tone quite a bit, telling veterans in his country that the clashes had resulted from a misunderstanding.

"We consider this an incident. I don't call it a war ... We are very sorry. We don't want Cambodian or Thai soldiers to die," Hun Sen said.

His spokesman added that the existing mechanism and channel of dialogue between the two countries would continue unabated and that the Cambodian leader and PM Abhisit Vejjajiva were due to take part at the upcoming summit between Asean and key regional partners.

But while the two sides try to pick up the pieces from last week's bloody clashes, they have made virtually no progress in real terms in solving the issue of overlapping territories.

Pride and ego continue to get in the way as officials of both countries argue over nomenclature - Pra Viharn/Preah Vihear - in spite of knowing that they are talking about the same thing.

Besides, one would think that the pulling back of troops would be the top priority after last year's clashes, but the shelling last week tells us that the two countries do not have the political will to do so, perhaps for fear of being seen as weak by their own peoples. So much for Asean unity. So much for the Asian Century.

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