Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Guns silent on Thai-Cambodian border; talks cancelled

Mon Apr 25, 2011
By Martin Petty

PHANOM DONG RAK, Thailand (Reuters) – Guns were silent along the Thai-Cambodia border Monday after three days of jungle clashes between rival troops, but hopes for a diplomatic solution faded after the abrupt cancellation of talks with a top regional envoy.

Indonesian Foreign Minister and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) chair Marty Natalegawa had been due in Thailand and Cambodia for talks Monday, but his trip was cancelled, Thai and Cambodian government officials said.

Natalegawa had brokered a U.N.-backed peace deal on February 22 that would have posted unarmed military observers from Indonesia along the border. That deal was never put in place. Thailand says international observers are not required, insisting the dispute can be resolved bilaterally.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the visit was cancelled because Thailand and Cambodia had not yet settled on terms for the Indonesian observers.

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