ID :
164113
Sat, 02/26/2011 - 06:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/164113
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Proposed Thai-Cambodian JBC In Jakarta,March 7-8
By Jamaluddin Muhammad
BANGKOK (Bernama) – Bangkok has proposed the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Land Boundary (JBC) to discuss their border dispute to be held in Jakarta, tentatively on March 7 and 8.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Bangkok, as the host of the
forthcoming JBC, had suggested the date to Phnom Penh.
The meeting will be held in the third country as agreed by both nations during the Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting in Jakarta last week.
Abhisit was speaking to reporters after Unesco Special Envoy Koichiro Matsuura met him at the Prime Minister's Office here Friday.
The JBC is co-chair by former ambassador Asda Jayanama on the Thai side and it was originally scheduled to take place in Bangkok this Sunday.
Phnom Penh, on the other hand, has insisted on the presence of
representatives from Asean to the Thai-Cambodia bilateral meeting on the border dispute as past meetings had not achieved their desired results in solving the border dispute.
The JBC could not move its survey and demarcation task forward for areas adjacent to the temple since its last meeting in Phnom Penh in April 2009, because the Thai Parliament was still considering the minutes of the JBC meetings.
The border dispute involved both nations claiming an area of 4.6 sq km surrounding the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear Hindu Temple as the area had yet to be demarcated, including the access route to the temple.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple was located in Cambodia, and it was listed as a world heritage site by Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2008.
The recent clashes occurred between Feb 4 and Feb 16 at the disputed area, with both sides exchanging heavy weapons, including bombs, rockets and tanks, leaving 10 deaths reported on both sides.
Prior to this, three clashes were reported -– July 15, 2008, October 2008 and April 3, 2009 -– since the inscription of the temple on the world heritage list on July, 2008.
Both parties brought up the recent clashes to the United Nations Security Council on Feb 14, but the Security Council urged them to establish a permanent ceasefire, resolve the situation peacefully and through dialogue with Asean support.
During the one-hour meeting, Abhisit reiterated Bangkok's stand on the issue to Matsuura.
Bangkok felt the listing of the temple was the main source of the border tension and had wanted Unesco to reconsider the listing until the proper demarcation of the border was completed.
Bangkok also wanted Unesco World Heritage Committee to reconsider the management plan for the temple until the border dispute was resolved.
"Unesco supports both nations to resolve the border dispute bilaterally," said Abhisit.
Matsuura, a former director-general of Unesco and a former chairman of the World Heritage Committee, was appointed by Unesco director-general Irina Bokova to discuss with Bangkok and Phnom Penh, following the latest developments, in preserving the temple.
Matsuura will fly to Phnom Penh on Sunday.
BANGKOK (Bernama) – Bangkok has proposed the Thai-Cambodian Joint Commission on Land Boundary (JBC) to discuss their border dispute to be held in Jakarta, tentatively on March 7 and 8.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Bangkok, as the host of the
forthcoming JBC, had suggested the date to Phnom Penh.
The meeting will be held in the third country as agreed by both nations during the Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting in Jakarta last week.
Abhisit was speaking to reporters after Unesco Special Envoy Koichiro Matsuura met him at the Prime Minister's Office here Friday.
The JBC is co-chair by former ambassador Asda Jayanama on the Thai side and it was originally scheduled to take place in Bangkok this Sunday.
Phnom Penh, on the other hand, has insisted on the presence of
representatives from Asean to the Thai-Cambodia bilateral meeting on the border dispute as past meetings had not achieved their desired results in solving the border dispute.
The JBC could not move its survey and demarcation task forward for areas adjacent to the temple since its last meeting in Phnom Penh in April 2009, because the Thai Parliament was still considering the minutes of the JBC meetings.
The border dispute involved both nations claiming an area of 4.6 sq km surrounding the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear Hindu Temple as the area had yet to be demarcated, including the access route to the temple.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple was located in Cambodia, and it was listed as a world heritage site by Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2008.
The recent clashes occurred between Feb 4 and Feb 16 at the disputed area, with both sides exchanging heavy weapons, including bombs, rockets and tanks, leaving 10 deaths reported on both sides.
Prior to this, three clashes were reported -– July 15, 2008, October 2008 and April 3, 2009 -– since the inscription of the temple on the world heritage list on July, 2008.
Both parties brought up the recent clashes to the United Nations Security Council on Feb 14, but the Security Council urged them to establish a permanent ceasefire, resolve the situation peacefully and through dialogue with Asean support.
During the one-hour meeting, Abhisit reiterated Bangkok's stand on the issue to Matsuura.
Bangkok felt the listing of the temple was the main source of the border tension and had wanted Unesco to reconsider the listing until the proper demarcation of the border was completed.
Bangkok also wanted Unesco World Heritage Committee to reconsider the management plan for the temple until the border dispute was resolved.
"Unesco supports both nations to resolve the border dispute bilaterally," said Abhisit.
Matsuura, a former director-general of Unesco and a former chairman of the World Heritage Committee, was appointed by Unesco director-general Irina Bokova to discuss with Bangkok and Phnom Penh, following the latest developments, in preserving the temple.
Matsuura will fly to Phnom Penh on Sunday.
