Thai, Cambodian PMs fail to end border dispute

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By NINIEK KARMINI

The Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Southeast Asian leaders made little headway Sunday in helping Thailand and Cambodia end a deadly border dispute that could undermine peace and stability in the region as it pushes for economic integration.

Armed police officers gear up prior to deployment to secure the venue of the 18th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meetings in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, May 7, 2011. (AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah)

Indonesian military personnel man the entrance to the venue of the 18th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit meetings in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, May 7, 2011. (AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah)

The prime ministers of the two feuding nations held talks Sunday — mediated by Indonesia's president — as part of efforts to hammer out a lasting cease-fire.

But neither seemed in any mood to back down.

"There's no conclusion," Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters after the trilateral meeting, providing few details. "We'll need further talks after this."

Other topics discussed during the two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit included Myanmar's successful bid to take over the rotating chair of the regional grouping in 2014 and concerns about spiraling food and energy prices and maritime security.

The 10 heads of state were especially nervous about the potentially oil-rich Spratly islands, claimed in whole or in part by China and four ASEAN members — Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam.

The smaller nations, together with the U.S., worry that China may use its military might to seize the area outright or assume de facto control with naval patrols.

That could threaten one of the world's busiest commercial sea lanes.

"We deemed the South China Sea issue, in all its various dimensions, as having the potential to undermine the stability of our region," according to the final communique released after the meeting.

Member countries agreed to work toward ending a nine-year disagreement with China that has blocked completion of guidelines for an accord aimed at preventing armed conflicts over the disputed islands.

As part of that deal, the claimant nations could pursue joint development projects to ease tensions in the South China Sea region.

The annual summit was supposed to focus on developing an integrated regional economic zone by 2015.

But Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the host, said in his opening statement that little can be accomplished without peace and stability among member countries.

To that end, he agreed to mediate the talks Sunday between the Cambodian and Thai prime ministers about repeated outbreaks of fighting that have killed nearly 20 people in the last two weeks. Another 100,000 fled their homes at the peak of the clashes.

The deadly spat — allegedly over control of ancient temples claimed by the two nations — has stirred nationalist sentiment on both sides.

But analysts say domestic politics is fanning the fire, especially in Thailand, where the military that staged a coup in 2006 could be posturing ahead of elections expected as early as next month.

Neither side appeared ready to budge, however.

During the plenary session on Saturday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called a demand by Thailand to withdraw troops from the area before it allows for the deployment of outside military observers both "irrational and unacceptable."

"It's Thailand that has to withdraw its troops from the vicinity," he said, reiterating his position to reporters following Sunday's three-way talks.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that while "differences remain," the two sides agreed, at least, that future talks about the disputed border should include the major sticking point about where troops from each country should be deployed.

"The ultimate objective must be to achieve lasting peace" not to score "political points," he said, agreeing with Hun Sen to allow their foreign ministers to continue the dialogue on Monday.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's president, Thein Sein, who heads the military-backed party that overwhelmingly won general elections late last year, won approval for his request to chair ASEAN in 2014 despite concerns about his country's human rights record.

The regional grouping chairmanship is supposed to rotate annually among its 10 member countries.

Myanmar was forced to skip its turn in 2005, however, after heavy pressure from the international community over slow progress on human rights and other issues.

The final communique said Southeast Asian leaders "consented" to Thein Sein's proposal.

ASEAN is comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Associated Press writers Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

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May 08, 2011

Thai, Cambodia Leaders Disagree on Border Claims

VOA News
May 08, 2011

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Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, left, shakes hands with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva before their trilateral meeting with Cambodia in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 8, 2011

A meeting Sunday in Indonesia between the prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand on the sidelines of a southeast Asia regional summit has not produced an agreement to end the two countries' ongoing border dispute.

The talk was mediated by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the final day of a two-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Repeated outbreaks of fighting along the Cambodia and Thailand border have claimed more than 20 lives this year. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes on both sides of the border.

The dispute centers around control of ancient temples claimed by both nations.

On Friday, Indonesia's foreign minister, Marty Natalegwa, announced Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to accept Indonesian monitors on the border to help prevent further military clashes. However, Cambodia harshly criticized a request by Thailand to first remove troops from Cambodia's side of the border.

Effective mechanism needed for ASEAN to settle Cambodian, Thai border row: academics

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May 06, 2011

The credibility and prestige of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) may be downgraded if it has no effective mechanism to settle Cambodian and Thai border row, academics warned on Thursday.

Pou Sothirak, Cambodian senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said Cambodian and Thai border row is not only damaging bilateral relations in a critical way, but also threatening regional peace and stability.

"If no effective mediation is pursued to contain it, it will undoubtedly affect the credibility and reputation of ASEAN," he said during a two-day conference on strengthening the ASEAN political-security community through preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution mechanism.

The conference brought together representatives from the Network of ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies and members of Cambodian parliament and decision makers from various Cambodian ministries.

Pou Sothirak said that the main challenges to security community are the ASEAN principles of non-interference and the norm of not putting bilateral dispute between members on the ASEAN agenda.

"The principles of non-interference and consensus are the obstacles in the realization of the security community by 2015," he said.

"ASEAN must do something right where failure would mean that the region return to the past of using force to settle disputes," he said. "This in turn will send ASEAN straight into a danger zone of losing its role as driver of the regional security architecture. "

Nem Sowath, a board member of Cambodian Institute of Cooperation and Peace, said ASEAN has played a significant role in coping with regional security issues and threat; however, it does not have appropriate and effective regional mechanism in place when it comes to territorial disputes among its member states.

"Cambodian-Thai border conflict is a case in point. It is a testing ground for ASEAN's ability to solve issues for its member states," he said.

"It is a warning signal to ASEAN to get reformed as soon as possible, otherwise ASEAN can be divided and ASEAN credibility will be downgraded." he said.

The leaders of ASEAN countries will meet on May 7-8 in the 18th summit in Jakarta, Indonesia and the border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand will be included in the agenda.

"In my own opinion, ASEAN should establish a special working group or a conflict resolution mechanism in order to settle Cambodian-Thai border row," he said.

"We wish to see ASEAN to be stronger, more united and more relevant particularly in security issues in order to serve the interests of everyone."

Yeo Lay Hwee, senior research fellow of Singapore Institute of International Affairs said "frankly speaking, ASEAN has really not moved much progress towards confidence building, preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution mechanism."

Suchit Bunbongkam, president of the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific (Thailand), said the measures or conflict resolution mechanism should be established in order to settle issues for its member states and to prevent conflicts in the future.

"The principle of internal sovereignty and non-interference in ASEAN must be observed," he said. "For Cambodia and Thailand border conflict, we wish to see the issue be settled peacefully, not by armed forces."

Cambodian and Thai border has never been completely demarcated. Conflict has happened just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.

The latest flare-up had occurred from April 22 until May 3 at the 13th century Ta Moan temple and Ta Krabei temple in Oddar Meanchey province, leaving 19 people on both sides killed and nearly 100,000 civilians fled homes for safe shelters.

Both sides always blamed each other for firstly triggering the attacks.

ASEAN countries consist of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua

Asean still has to prove that it is really unified [-The Nation needs to check its facts before writing such outrageous article]

May 10, 2011
The Nation

Despite the sterling efforts of Indonesia as the current chair, the regional grouping must show the world it can act in true solidarity

Thanks to the effectiveness and non-partisan outlook of the current chair, Indonesia, the 18th Asean Summit last weekend concluded on a high note. With the Thai-Cambodian conflict still simmering and overshadowing the summit, it took the calmness of the chair to steer the summit toward a successful conclusion.

If it hadn't been for Indonesia's cool-headed approach, the summit could have turned out differently. For the first time in the history of the regional grouping, an intra-Asean conflict featured prominently during the plenary sessions at the ministerial and summit levels, much to the chagrin of the more conservative members and delegates.

Cambodia's unilateral decision to seek international assistance has pushed the other Asean members to support the ongoing efforts of Thailand to settle the border dispute through a bilateral mechanism, as reflected in the chairman's statement.

The aggressive approach and the lack of consistency by the Cambodian side also helped to strengthen Indonesia's facilitating role and the "fullest utilisation " of the bilateral efforts. It remains to be seen how Indonesia will further engage both sides as the Asean leaders sent a clear signal to the two protagonists not to split Asean with this conflict and thus delay the realisation of an integrated Asean Community by 2015.

Apart from the hullabaloo surrounding the Hun Sen-Hor Nam Hong dramatics, Indonesia managed to push forward processes within the grouping to ensure that the prospect of achieving the Asean Community for 2015 and beyond will be a strong one.

The statement on "the Asean Community in a Global Community of Nations" is a good testimony to Indonesia's current leadership. The Asean leaders agreed that the regional grouping needs to move forward with a shared vision and coordinated action on global issues of common interest. Without these commonalities, Asean will remain weak and lack bargaining power in the globalised world. Toward these objectives, Asean has to do a lot more, as its members are still basically unwilling to think "collectively" for the good of the whole organisation and its 600 million people.

Indonesia has done an excellent job in encouraging the dialogue between the Asean leaders and the civil society organisations. However, Burma has not taken part in the interface. The chair has shown initiative and demonstrated that such dialogues are useful and can be carried out without any politicisation. Vietnam chose not to do so last year.

Somehow, this dialogue process must be institutionalised further. Otherwise there is no guarantee that there will be this type of positive gathering when Cambodia is chair, given past negative responses from Phnom Penh. Without the dialogue process, it is hard to convince the world that Asean is moving toward a people-oriented economic community.

As expected, the controversial issues relating to Burma's request to chair Asean in 2014, as well as the proposed membership of East Timor [Timor Leste], were further deferred. Asean will dispatch fact-finding teams to both countries to assess the situation on the ground and come back with a set of recommendations for the next summit. However, there is nothing given on both cases.

Several Asean members have strong views on the 2014 Asean chairmanship for Burma, as well as the grouping's enlargement. As a rules-based organisation, Asean is getting tough on its members about strictly adhering to rules and regulations.

Indonesia's chairmanship will remain pivotal for the reduction of Thai-Cambodian border tensions in the months to come. Further progress is crucial if so-called Asean solidarity is to become a reality. The whole world is watching.

Thai-Cambodia dispute fuels scepticism over regional bloc ASEAN

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Sat May 7, 2011

By Neil Chatterjee

JAKARTA May 7 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders sought on Saturday to resolve a deadly border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia that has cast fresh doubt over whether the region's plans to become a free-trade economic community by 2015 are realistic.

The skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia -- ostensibly over ownership of some crumbling ancient temples on the border but also driven by internal political dynamics in both countries -- have killed 18 people in the last couple of weeks,

The confrontation -- and the apparent inability of the Association of South East Asian Nations to broker a peace deal that holds -- has fuelled scepticism over the bloc's lofty ambitions and threatens to overshadow its annual two-day meeting, just as controversy over Myanmar has in the past.

"The United States and United Nations hope Indonesia, as Southeast Asia's biggest country, can help to resolve this dispute," Indonesian Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring told Reuters at the start of the meeting in Jakarta.

The 10-member ASEAN, with some of the world's fastest growing economies and some 500 million people, represents a region with increasing economic clout but is often derided as a talk shop and has a policy of non-interference in other members' domestic affairs.

Fighting over the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site in dispute since the withdrawal of the French from Cambodia in the 1950s, has turned into Southeast's Asia's bloodiest conflict in a decade and dented ASEAN's image.

Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers meeting ahead of the summit agreed on some of the ground rules for sending an Indonesian military observer team to the border, but Cambodia rejected Thailand's request to withdraw troops from the temple as a precondition.

"We never can withdraw our troops from our own territory. It should be very clear," said Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.

MYRIAD SECURITY CHALLENGES

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not mention the dispute in a speech to open the meeting on Saturday, focusing instead on the region's challenges of food and energy security and speeding up moves towards an economic community.

The group ranges from oil and gas-rich Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia, and the world's top rice exporter Thailand, to trading centre Singapore and resource-scarce Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines.

ASEAN, together with China, Japan and South Korea, has agreed to have a rice reserve of over 700,0000 tonnes to protect against volatile commodity prices, which had surged this year before unexpectedly diving this week.

"Food security will be a great challenge for ASEAN," Yudhoyono said in the speech. "Nations on this earth will face a competitive situation for the scarce resources of daily needs."

The region needs to develop intra-ASEAN trade and investment, said Yudhoyono, a week after meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao who promised $9 billion in loans to overhaul Indonesia's dilapidated infrastructure and to speed up transport links between the region and China.

"We still have to do a lot of things," Yudhoyono added.

He said the leaders, transported in a fleet of gleaming Toyota limos through Jakarta's traffic jams and tropical rains that killed 17 people on Friday night in floods to the west of the capital, will also discuss disaster management following the devastating tsunami in key trading partner Japan. (Additional reporting by Telly Nathalia, Aditya Suharmoko and Olivia Rondonuwu; Editing by Andrew Marshall)

ASEAN Summit Highlights Economic Gains, Political Growing Pains

Brian Padden, VOA
Jakarta Tuesday, 10 May 2011

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Photo: AP

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivers his speech during the opening ceremony of the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, May 7, 2011.

"At the moment we have meetings and meeting of officials and have firmed up the defense side by moving it from informal to formal, but there has been no [not] anything done jointly by ASEAN..."

Leaders of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began a two day summit in Jakarta Saturday. The organization has made progress in creating an economic trading block, but still faces great challenges in finding common ground on political and security matters.

All the ASEAN heads of state, with the exception of Singapore, are participating in the Jakarta summit. Singapore's prime minister stayed at home to await the results of the election there.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened the summit and endorsed ASEAN's recent efforts to mediate peace between two member states, Thailand and Cambodia, that have been fighting since February.

The two countries moved closer to ending an ongoing border conflict Friday, when both sides agreed in principle to accept 15 Indonesian observers in the conflict zone. Thai and Cambodia troops have been exchanging gun and artillery fire in a dispute over an area surrounding an ancient Hindu Khmer Temple that both countries claim.

President Yudhoyono also cited the challenges the region faces, such as soaring food and energy prices, the threat of terrorism and natural disasters that frequently strike in southeast Asia. He said ASEAN needs to become a more coherent and effective force to respond to these threats and maintain peace and stability in the region

The goal of the summit is to continue progress in making ASEAN an effective regional community with binding rules governing economic trade and political and security cooperation.

There has been strong support by all the leaders to create a unified economic trading block. Since 2010, ASEAN members have adhered to a free trade agreement with China, even though there have been some calls to modify the agreement to protect local industries from cheap Chinese imports.

But ASEAN members have been reluctant to enforce its own charter on issues of democracy development, protecting human rights and maintaining regional peace and security.

Carl Thayer is a southeast Asia political analyst with the University of New South Wales in Australia. While he credits Indonesia for its mediation efforts in the Thai-Cambodia conflict, he says ASEAN's inability to impose sanctions on member states that violate the organization's charter continues to limit its effectiveness.

And he says when it comes to mutual security issues, it is hard to see progress other than talk about humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and improving border protection.

"At the moment we have meetings and meeting of officials and have firmed up the defense side by moving it from informal to formal, but there has been no [not] anything done jointly by ASEAN in the defense and security spheres. It is all bilateral, trilateral," said Thayer.

He says while ASEAN's plan for economic integration is on track, when it comes to political and defense issues, the organization is still in the talking stage.

ASEAN adrift in Thai-Cambodian conflict

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By Ou Virak

PHNOM PENH - Two series of clashes between Thailand and Cambodia over disputed temples and territories along their shared border have left 29 soldiers dead this year while as many as 85,000 civilians have been displaced on either side of the border since hostilities resumed on April 22. The shots and words exchanged over the border and the apparent reluctance of either side to resolve the situation have bankrupted both governments of any moral authority on the issue.

Against this background, the meeting this weekend of the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) represents an opportunity for that organization to do as the Thai and Cambodian governments have failed and to put people before politics by pushing concrete measures to end the human suffering caused by the ongoing clashes.

Theories abound as to the motivations for these clashes with many commentators concluding that their proximity to elections in Thailand indicate that they serve some internal political end for the Thai government of Abhisit Vejjajiva or some renegade nationalist military generals.

Others argue that the clashes are designed by Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen to rally nationalistic sentiment in an attempt to avert attention from domestic problems such as mass land evictions and recent and forthcoming laws that erode civil liberties or to bolster the military credentials of his son and heir in waiting, Hun Manet, who was recently promoted to two-star general and who is said to be taking charge of troops at the border.

Whatever the cause - and it may be that it is a combination of these factors - both governments appear less inclined to resolve the issue and ease tensions than they are with stoking them. For every ceasefire broken in recent days, either side has offered an explanation as to how the other side is to blame. Of even greater concern are the accusations being leveled by each side as to the other's use of illegal and disproportionately harmful weapons and tactics employed throughout the hostilities.

Thai sources accuse Cambodia of using heavy artillery and rocket launchers, using the temples as military bases and civilians as human shields to escalate the conflict in order to justify international intervention and condemnation of Thailand. Cambodia has claimed that Thai aircraft overflew its territory and that the Thai military has used disproportionately harmful weapons such as shells loaded with poisonous gases and cluster munitions, which leave a lasting legacy by releasing bomblets over a large geographical area. Cluster munitions often fail to explode on impact and are capable of exploding at a later date.

Thailand has not admitted to the use of cluster munitions in the recent conflict. However, based on two separate on-site investigations in Svay Chrum Village, Sen Chey Village and around the Preah Vihear temple after clashes in February 2011, the United Kingdom-based Cluster Munition Coalition concluded, and Thai officials subsequently confirmed, that Thailand used cluster munitions during the earlier conflict.

While there is no current evidence to suggest that Thailand - which provides electricity to much of the western parts of Cambodia - is responsible for three power failures that have occurred during the recent conflict, comments made by Thailand's energy minister and Provincial Electricity Authority governor to date suggest that the decision to cut the electricity supply is still being discussed and has not been discounted.

It is difficult to verify the accusations made by either country, including determining which country is responsible for the continual violation of ceasefires, as third party observers have been unable to access the area. The very fact that these accusations are being made means that this is a dirty war either in deeds or in words - ie in the conduct of the parties to conflict or their characterization of it.

At the very best, both sides are bereft of any bona fides in the manner in which they portray these clashes and the tactics being used by the other side and are looking to mislead audiences at home and abroad. At worst, one or both sides may be guilty of acting in violation of international humanitarian law by using tactics and weapons that cause harm to civilians or which result in damage to cultural property.

The recent application by the Cambodian government for a ruling by the International Court of Justice on the ownership of land adjoining the temple at Preah Vihear may contribute to a final resolution to the issue of ownership of the land in question. In the short term, however, the move is less likely to ease tensions between the countries than it is to stoke them.

Reports in recent days that the Thai and Cambodian governments are allowing civilians to return to border areas before a satisfactory resolution is negotiated underlines the fact that the people along the border are of less concern to both governments that the politics associated with it.

When ASEAN leaders meet in Jakarta this weekend, it is the deaths of the 29 Thai and Cambodian soldiers, the well-being of the 85,000 people displaced on either side of the border and the immediate cessation of hostilities that should be at the top of their agendas.

Whatever the specific motivations behind the conflict, it is clear that actors on both sides have placed politics before the lives and well-being of their people. It is equally clear that these hostilities are unlikely to end for as long as they remain a bilateral issue between Thailand and Cambodia.

The conduct of both countries' militaries and the mendacity of their governments can only be brought into line by the internationalization of the issue. So far international efforts, including a broken agreement to allow Indonesian observers to monitor the situation on both sides of the border, have failed to halt the hostilities. To maintain ASEAN's credibility and relevance, the grouping must take a more assertive lead in mediating the tensions before it spirals into a wider conflict and more severe humanitarian disaster.

Ou Virak is president of the Phnom Penh-based Cambodian Center for Human Rights.

Thai, Cambodian PMs confer on border conflict

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JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 8 -- Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen discussed the border conflict between their countries Sunday in the Indonesian capital with the former insisting that Phnom Penh troops must first be withdrawn from the disputed border area before negotiations could commence.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the two-day 18th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which opened yesterday. It was also attended by Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers Kasit Piromya and Hor Namhong respectively, as well as Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa in his capacity as chairman of ASEAN.

The meeting, which lasted about one hour, ended with little progress, as Mr Hun Sen demanded the Thai government leader follow an earlier agreement that Indonesian observers be dispatched to the disputed border area and insisting that Cambodian troops would not withdraw from that area.

As no sign of concrete conclusion, especially on the dispatch Indonesian observers in to the disputed border, was reached, it was agreed that Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers would meet on Monday in Jakarta to discuss the issue again.

Despite no progress in Sunday’s meeting, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying “the fact that they are meeting is a good sign.”

Renewed fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops broke out on April 22 in the Thai border province of Surin, forcing tens of thousands of Thai villagers to flee deeper into the Thai territory.

Mr Abhisit is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Indonesian and Laos leaders separately this afternoon.

ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (MCOT online news)

Indonesian observers on Thai-Cambodian border a "done deal"

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May 6, 2011

Jakarta - A proposal to station 30 Indonesian observers along the contentious Thai-Cambodian border in a bid to reduce fighting between the two neighbours is a 'done deal,' Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Friday.

But he acknowledged that more work was needed to implement the deal.

'As far as the terms of reference are concerned (on the agreement), it's a done deal,' Natalegawa said after holding separate talks with his Cambodian and Thai counterparts in Jakarta.

'What remains now is how to operationalize the assignment of the Indonesian observer teams on the ground,' Natalegawa said. 'The big issue is to create conducive conditions.'

Creating those conditions is expected to prove contentious, observers said.

Thai and Cambodian troops have been engaging in skirmishes since mid-2008 over conflicting claims to a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land that is adjacent to the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple perched on a cliff that defines their common border.

Fighting flared up again last month near two other temples 140 kilometres west of Preah Vihear, leaving eight soldiers dead on each side.

The conflict has turned into a hot topic at this weekend's summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), held in Jakarta, capital of the group's current chair Indonesia. ASEAN now holds two summits a year.

In an effort to facilitate a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, Natalegawa in February proposed posting Indonesian observers along the border. That proposal has now been agreed to by both sides, he said.

The Thai Cabinet approved the proposal on Tuesday, but set the condition that Cambodia must withdraw its troops from Preah Vihear temple first.

'We never can withdraw our troops from our own territory. That should be very clear,' Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said in Jakarta.

Although the two countries have overlapping claims to land near Preah Vihear, the temple itself was judged to belong to Cambodian by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1962.

Cambodia last week petitioned the court to clarify its 1962 ruling to determine which country has sovereignty over land near the temple.

The appeal to the ICJ could undermine the role ASEAN is attempting to play as a peace-maker in its own region, a role that Natalegawa has been pushing during the Indonesian chairmanship.

'The risk of delay is very real,' Natalegawa warned. 'As a person I have infinite patience, but as the chair of ASEAN we all need to see some progress.'

He said that the issue over troop withdrawal from Preah Vihear is an issue that might be resolved through bilateral talks between Cambodia and Thailand, which have set up two joint commissions to handle the issue.

The Continuing Impotence of ASEAN

ASEAN leaders walk after they held a retreat at the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta May 8, 2011. (Supri Supri/Courtesy Reuters)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
By Joshua Kurlantzick
Council on Foreign Relations

This past week’s ASEAN Summit in Jakarta only further highlighted the organization’s continuing impotence at a time when the United States is reengaging with ASEAN and, Indonesia, returning to its role as regional power, is trying to make ASEAN work more effectively. The first U.S. ambassador to ASEAN has arrived, and Indonesian officials have become more involved in everything from Myanmar to the ongoing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia.

Yet the organization itself still lacks coherence, strong leadership, and speed, and it increasingly appears likely that it will never have these characteristics. Despite Indonesia’s best intentions, ASEAN mediation has produced few results in the Thai-Cambodian dispute, and the organization has not been able to resolve another lingering problem: Myanmar is in line to host the 2014 ASEAN summit, which would almost surely mean the U.S. president will not attend any meetings with ASEAN that year, since he or she will not want to appear to support Myanmar. Some of the more democratic members of ASEAN, including the Philippines and Indonesia, wanted Myanmar to relinquish this right, as it had in the past, but as usual with ASEAN, the organization could reach no consensus–ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan just endorsed Myanmar’s right to host –and so the likely result will be some kind of muddle.

ASEAN’s leadership abilities are only going to get weaker. Though Singapore’s recent election was a step forward for open politics in the city state, it did result in the loss of a seat for longtime foreign minister George Yeo, who has been a driving force for stronger ASEAN leadership and action. Moreover, in the next few years the organization will absorb Timor Leste as its eleventh member, a correct decision, given Timor’s tough history, but one that will only slow down policymaking even more.

PMs' face-to-face meet fails to resolve conflict

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By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
Jakarta
Published on May 9, 2011

PM Abhisit proposed discussing the troop withdrawal in a military-run General Border Committee (GBC) meeting, but Cambodia's Hun Sen disagreed, saying the GBC meet would not be convened before a Thai letter accepting the Indonesian observers' terms of reference had been submitted.

A tripartite meeting called by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to setฌtle the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia yesterday made no progress as the conflicting countries remained extremely indifฌferent.

Indonesia's plan to dispatch its observers to the borderdisputed area adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple has not materialised as Thailand insists it would not sign a letter of acceptance to the Indonesian observers' term of reference (TOR) unless Cambodia withdrew its troops from the Hindu temple and its vicinฌity.

Cambodia rejected the condition- saying it would not withdraw troops from its own territory.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva proposed to discuss the troop withฌdrawal in a militaryrun General Border Committee (GBC) meeting - but his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen disagreed, saying the GBC meetฌing would not be convened before the Thai letter of acceptance to the TOR was formally submitted to Indonesia.

"Once Thailand has signed the TOR, the meeting of the GBC could start immediately," Hun Sen told a press conference on the sideline of the Asean summit.

Seeking a solution

As the issue came into deadlock, Indonesian President Yudhoyono, who is facilitating the peace process, recommended foreign ministers of the two nations stay one more day in Jakarta to work with Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa and seek a solution. The ministers are in Indonesia for an Asean summit meeting which ended yesterday.

The border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia came to the attention of Asean following a major clash in February at the Preah Vihear temple. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), as requested by Phnom Penh, entrusted Asean to implement a permanent ceasefire.

The armed conflict extended to other areas near Ta Mouan Thom and Ta Kwai temple in Surin in late April. The latest clash which caused more casualties prompted Cambodia's move to have the International Court of Justice (ICJ) interpret the scope and meaning of the 1962 ruling on the Preah Vihear case.

Prime Minister Abhisit charged Cambodia with igniting the military conflict to internationalise the issue, although the two countries already had many bilateral mechanisms, including the GBC, to settle the conflict.

Abhisit rejected Cambodian preฌmier Hun Sen's accusation of being an obstacle to a peaceful solution, saying it was the government in Phnom Penh that had made the issue more complicated, calling for differฌent solutions to the problem.

Cambodia called for a third party from international organisations to intervene in the Preah Vihear case but was willing to settle the conflict in areas of Ta Mouan bilaterally.

'Two areas, two approaches'

"Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterฌated two areas needing different approaches which I find hard to understand as people along the borฌder areas need equal attention and long lasting solutions," Abhisit said in another press conference.

Thailand's position was consisฌtent in having a longlasting soluฌtion and prevent further conflict, he said.

Hun Sen defended his idea that a third party was needed for the Preah Vihear, as the issue had already been submitted to the UN and the Asean had a UN mandate to participate.

"We necessarily have to respect the role of Asean, we cannot talk together secretly or quietly, he said.

"The acceptance of Indonesian observers had been agreed in the meeting of Asean foreign ministers in February and the TOR has been modified seven times already - and there were no demands for troop withdrawal and no demands for a GBC meeting before the signing of the letter of acceptance," he said.

Abhisit argued that the message of troop withdrawal had been conฌveyed to Indonesia at the beginning, not a new condition, since the presฌence of troops at the temple and in its vicinity is against the spirit of the Hague convention and world herฌitage guidelines.

"Cambodia cannot deny this conฌdition as its request to ICJ also wantฌed to have the withdrawal of Thai troops from the temple. So I find it hard to understand why Cambodia cannot accept there is a need for disฌcussion for both sides to talk about troop withdrawal from sensitive areas," Abhisit said.