Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An has said that the firing by the Thai army of more than 400 mortar shells on the Preah Vihear Temple was intentional and aimed by Thailand to destroy the Temple. H.E. Sok An, who is also Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of National Commission of Cambodia for UNESCO, was speaking in an interview on Monday.
He said one of the urgent things that Cambodia would do which was agreed by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen and UNESCO Special Envoy Koichiro Matsuura was to hold a meeting between himself and his Thai counterpart.
However, he underlined, it must not be a meeting organized within the Thai manoeuvre of closing the door to use armed forces to attack Cambodia, and push out the United Nations, the ASEAN, the UNESCO and others who want to intervene for peace.
So, fruitful meetings are to have the UNESCO as a witness and must be held at the UNESCO headquarters attended by the UNESCO leaders, Deputy Premier Sok An said, referring to his previous meeting with former Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon, attended by UNESCO Deputy Director-General which led to a decision to list the Preah Vihear Temple [as a World Heritage Site] a few weeks later in Quebec.
He also gave an example of his fruitful meeting with his Thai counterpart delegation in Brazil which resulted in the signing of a five-point document with the intervention of Minister of Culture of Brazil as chairman of the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee.
"We are prepared to meet with Thai counterpart at the UNESCO headquarters and the meeting is expected to take place in May and there will be a preparatory meeting in Paris prior to the World Heritage Committee's meeting in Bahrain," he said.
"We have requested Indonesia to dispatch the observers as soon as possible..., he said, adding that Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen convened a special meeting on Sunday during which he said the UN Security Council strongly supported ASEAN Chairman to play a coordinating role.
As far as the relevant progresses are concerned, he affirmed that fast progresses had been made. On Sunday, Indonesian Foreign Minister, who is now ASEAN Chairman, sent a letter to his Cambodian counterpart, requesting Cambodia to prepare a practical formula for the observations. Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong responded promptly to the request following an urgent meeting convened by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.
We hope that the situation will be getting less tense when the observers start working, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said, urging the UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee to demonstrate their high attention to contribute to protecting and saving the Preah Vihear Temple.
Referring to the 1954 international convention on protection of cultural heritages in time of armed conflicts, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An suggested that the UNESCO should have a speedy approach to the United Nations Security Council, and Cambodia has now considered requesting for an observation mission like that in Israel and Arabia. -AKP
Article in Khmer by OK Saphan
Article in English by Ravuth M.
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