Cambodia Withdraws Troops From Disputed Area

Al Jazeera 18 July 2012

Move follows court order which also requires Thailand to withdraw its troops massed in area near Preah Vihear temple.

 

Cambodia has begun withdrawing its military personnel from a disputed zone with Thailand over the 11th century temple, Preah Vihear.

The move is in compliance with an order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the two countries to withdraw their troops.

According to a press release from the Cambodian government, the withdrawal of troops was the "first step of troop redeployment" from the arena around the Preah Vihear temple.

Though Cambodia says it has withdrawn almost 500 troops, Thailand has not given the exact number of troops it will withdraw, only saying the figure will be similar to Cambodia's.

The troop withdrawal from both sides from the disputed land around the temple comes one year after the ICJ ruled that a demilitarised zone would be monitored by observers from the Association of South East Asian Nations.

The temple, known as Preah Vihear in Cambodia and Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, sits on land that forms a natural border and has been a source of tension for generations.

Although Thailand did not dispute Cambodia's ownership of the temple, secured by an ICJ 1962 ruling, both sides claimed ownership of the area surrounding the Khmer complex.

The court has also ordered that independent Indonesian observers should be sent into the area to try to keep the peace.

Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Bangkok, said: "The withdrawal of Cambodian troops is part of the terms of reference through the International Court of Justice. We should expect a final decision later this year."

The withdrawal was made after Hun Sen, Cambodia's prime minister, and his Thai counterpart, Yingluck Shinawatra, met last Friday to agree to a redeployment of military personnel in the Provisional Demilitarised Zone (PDZ) surrounding the Preah Vihear temple.

Cambodia and Thailand have had sporadic border conflict over territorial dispute near the Preah Vihear temple since the UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage Site in 2008. Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometres of land next to the temple.

Fierce clashes between the two sides took place in February and April 2011 over the disputed land.

Preah Vihear, a Hindu temple, is located on the top of a 525 metre cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, about 500 kilometres northwest of Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital.