Special Envoy of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, arrived here yesterday for a three-day visit. He was welcomed at Phnom Penh International Airport by high-ranking government officials as well as representatives of the UNESCO Office in Phnom Penh.
The purpose of the visit of Mr. Koichiro Matsuura to Cambodia is to promote the cooperation between Cambodia and Thailand for an effective protection and safeguard of Preah Vihear Temple, a World Heritage Site, H.E. Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Office of the Council of Ministers told reporters at the airport.
Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, former UNESCO director-general and former chair of the World Heritage Committee, is also willing to seek ways to ease the tension between Cambodia and Thailand concerning the Khmer sacred Preah Vihear Temple, he added.
During his stay in the Kingdom, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura will meet with Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers, H.E. Phay Siphan said.
For his part, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and Chairman of Preah Vihear National Authority H.E. Chuch Phoeun said Cambodia will present Mr. Koichiro Matsuura about the serious damages of Preah Vihear Temple. Between 70 to 80 percent of the temple was damaged even though the temple did not collapse, but 414 shells of mortar and artillery had fallen on the temple, he said.
Thus, his visit to Cambodia is aimed to assess the damages of the temple due to the recent war of aggression of Thailand against Cambodia, H.E. Chuch Phoeun said, stressing that Mr. Koichiro Matsuura's plan to visit Preah Vihear Temple had been postponed to the next two weeks until the arrival of observers from Indonesia for the Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire.
Article in Khmer by CHIM Nary
Article in English by SOKMOM Nimul
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