Bid to ease Thai feud

Preah Vihear, Cambodia
April 6, 2009
AFP

CAMBODIAN and Thai officials have held urgent talks to prevent fresh fighting on their border after months of tensions over disputed land near an ancient temple flared into deadly gun battles.

A third Thai soldier died in hospital following Friday's clashes, which plunged relations between the neighbours to a new low.

Military officials from both sides met over lunch in the disputed territory near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple yesterday, while Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was set to meet Thai officials later in the capital Phnom Penh.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the issue would come up when he meets Mr Hun Sen at a summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations and its regional partners in Thailand next week.

The Thai and Cambodian leaders sought to play down the latest crisis on Saturday, saying that it was the result of a misunderstanding and that the countries were not at war.