Thai Prime Minister Non-Committal on Cambodia-Proposed Ceasefire Pact

Bangkok 18 February 2011 -- The Nation

Abhisit non-committal on four-point draft proposed by Hun Sen; Cambodia 'ready to station Asean forces' on its soil if Thailand rejects proposal 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday expressed some reservations about a ceasefire agreement proposed by his Cambodian counterpart.

"It's too early to talk about the signing of the agreement," Abhisit said. "I've not yet seen the details."

Abhisit, so far, has said he would welcome bilateral talks with Cambodia and support from Asean. He was convinced that Asean would not interfere in the content of the issues discussed at the negotiating table.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said during a rare press conference yesterday that Cambodia would ask Thailand to sign a permanent ceasefire, witnessed by Asean foreign ministers or the Asean chairman, next Tuesday at the meeting of the grouping's foreign ministers in Jakarta.

"It will be better if the Asean chair can sign on the permanent ceasefire," Hun Sen was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency. According to Xinhua, he has put forward four points for a permanent ceasefire:

• Cambodia and Thailand agree to stop fighting permanently. There should not be any more armed clashes;

• There should be no movement of armed forces during this time and the armed forces of both sides should maintain their current positions until a resolution on demarcating the border;

• Cambodia and Thailand must encourage the two countries' army commanders to open talks to improve cooperation to restore the situation to the pre-July 15, 2008, level;

• To ensure the effectiveness of the ceasefire, Cambodia will ask Asean countries to monitor it.

"I believe Thailand will not agree at this point, but if Thailand does not agree on the fourth point, Cambodia will receive forces from Asean countries to be stationed on Cambodian territory to observe and ensure the ceasefire," Xinhua quoted Hun Sen as saying.

Hun Sen said he had sent the four-point permanent-ceasefire draft to Abhisit through Thai Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankiri, who is now in Cambodia for the opening of Thai trade expo.

Hun Sen stressed that the multilateral talks would be used only in the border dispute with Thailand. All the meetings, even those of the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Commission on Demarcation of the Land Boundary, must have the participation of the Asean chairman or representative, and Thailand should not be afraid of the presence of the third party.

"Other than the border dispute and the Preah Vihear Temple, other issues such as trade, tourism and culture could have a bilateral fora," Hun Sen was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

"I appeal that we don't push the situation into confrontation on all sectors," he said. "We should contain the dispute."

However, on the issue of the Preah Vihear Temple, Hun Sen said: "We cannot walk back on this issue, it's the heritage left by our ancestors. I just maintain and protect it for our next generation. We don't want any land from the other."

Cambodia will welcome all types of observers from Asean, he said. "Observers can be civilians, military or police, they can be from an Asean group or each country can send their own observers to the disputed areas."