Saturday, 11 April 2009

Thai, Cambodian leaders meet in wake of clash

Cambodia's Prime Minster Hun Sen (L) shake hands with Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in front of a Khmer artefact in Pattaya April 10, 2009. The prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia met briefly on Friday, a week after border clashes killed two Thais, and expressed sorrow over the incident, but a Thai official said there may be future "hiccups".REUTERS/Sakchai Lalit/Pool (THAILAND POLITICS BUSINESS)


The Star Online
Friday April 10, 2009

PATTAYA, Thailand (Reuters) - The prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia met briefly on Friday, a week after border clashes killed two Thais, and expressed sorrow over the incident, but a Thai official said there may be future "hiccups".

Soldiers from the two Southeast Asian countries exchanged rocket and rifle fire last Friday on a disputed stretch of their border, the latest flare-up in an ancient feud over the 900-year-old Preah Vihear Hindu temple.

"We don't expect to solve the problem in the next few days, or the next few weeks. Occasionally there will be certain hiccups," Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told reporters after the meeting.

"What we have to do is make sure that the security agencies and forces in the area, that are in and out of the area all the time, understand each other."

After the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of an Asian summit in the Thai beach town of Pattaya, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva presented Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen with an ancient Khmer artefact.

The two shook hands, then Hun Sen leaned over to kiss the artefact, a large smiling face apparently made of terracotta.

In February, after an earlier border skirmish, Hun Sen reportedly threatened not to attend the East Asia Summit, which brings together 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

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