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| Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya |
Thailand has sent a "strong message" reiterating
that Cambodia must withdraw its troops from the disputed area around
Preah Vihear temple.If Cambodia refuses, then the so-called "package
solution" agreed by the foreign ministers of the two countries on Monday
in Jakarta will not be put into practice.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, in an interview shortly after
arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport from Indonesia yesterday, insisted that
the Indonesian observer team would be allowed to be stationed in
Thailand only if Cambodia first withdrew its soldiers from the
4.6-square-kilometre disputed area.
Mr Kasit said he and his Cambodian counterpart agreed on the package
solution proposed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who
mediated Monday's talks to defuse ongoing border clashes that erupted at
the beginning of February.
The solution would allow the deployment of Indonesian observers.
Mr Kasit said under the solution Thailand would exchange the terms of
reference (TOR) with Indonesia in the first step but that this would
have to be approved by the Thai cabinet next week.
He said if approved, the TOR would first allow Indonesia's survey
team to travel to Thailand to talk with the Si Sa Ket governor and
survey four locations where observers could be stationed.
Mr Kasit said in the second step the two countries must hold a
General Border Committee meeting to discuss Cambodia's troop withdrawal
in detail.
"If [Cambodia] refuses to withdraw, the observers can't come," said Mr Kasit.
Thailand had sent protest notes on 13 occasions to Cambodia, the United Nations, Unesco and the World Heritage Committee.
He refuted allegations that Thailand was dragging its feet on the TOR
issue by setting the condition that Cambodia must withdraw its troops
first.
Mr Kasit said the arrival of the observers amid the presence of
Cambodian soldiers in the disputed area would give credence to
Cambodia's claims to the land and would be a self-admission by Thailand
of the loss of its territory.
Bangkok Post
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