Cambodia: Thai troops again cross border

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodian officials said more Thai troops crossed into their country's territory Wednesday, in the second day of alleged incursions amid tensions over disputed border land near a historic temple.

Thai officials have denied any incursion, saying the troops are deploying on what was clearly Thai territory to protect their country's sovereignty.

However, a senior Thai military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said about 200 Thai troops were inside what he called "disputed border territory."

The director of Cambodian agency in charge of the Preah Vihear temple, Hang Soth, said the Thais continued to cross the border Wednesday. "Their troops have increased in number. They have not pulled back yet," Hang Soth said.

Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the number of Thai troops swelled to about 200 Wednesday, but insisted that "the situation is stable."

On Tuesday night, Khieu Kanharith said 170 troops and Thai civilians had crossed into Cambodian territory. He could not say how many civilians were among the group.

Despite the tension, efforts appeared to be under way to defuse the situation.

Khieu Kanharith said a Thai senior official had proposed a meeting at the highest level between the two countries to discuss the border dispute and to negotiate the withdrawal of troops from the area. He did not elaborate on who the Thai official was and what the terms of the negotiations were.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat could not be reached for immediate comment.

Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed to the Cambodian media and the public to remain calm and "not to inflame (the situation) or add fuel to the fire," Khieu Kanharith quoted Hun Sen as saying.

"We will definitely not use any forces unless attacked," Khieu Kanharith said.

"Both the Cambodian and Thai forces have their hands on their guns at all times," Cambodian border guard unit commander Seng Vuthy said earlier Wednesday by telephone from Preah Vihear.

He said some of the 900 residents on the mountain where the temple is located have fled their homes to a safer location at the foot of the mountain.

The police officer said negotiations between military commanders of the opposing sides were continuing but he did not elaborate.

The latest confrontation came after UNESCO declared Preah Vihear -- which is at the center of a long-standing border quarrel between the neighbors -- a World Heritage site last week.

Both countries claim 1.8 square miles (4.6 square kilometers) of land around the temple, and Thai anti-government activists recently have revived nationalist sentiment over the issue. The activists and some government officials fear the temple's new status will jeopardize their country's claims to land adjacent to the site.

The incident has claimed at least one casualty. A land mine explosion sheared the right leg off a Thai soldier patrolling in the area, said Thai army Col. Sirichan Ngathong.

Stretches of the Thai-Cambodian border are still strewn with land mines sown by various sides during the 1970-75 Cambodian civil war and the guerrilla conflict that followed the fall of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in 1979.

Maj. Gen. Kanok Netakawesana, a Thai army field commander in the region, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that his troops were on Thai soil close to the disputed area. He declined to give the number of soldiers deployed.

"We are not violating the territory of Cambodia. We have every right to deploy troops here to protect our sovereignty," Kanok said.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat denied any incursion, saying the relationship between the two countries remained normal.

The ministry said in a statement late Tuesday that the troops were ensuring that any protests by Thai activists were being done "in an orderly manner."

The Thai troop movements followed the arrest by Cambodia of three Thai citizens for crossing the border earlier Tuesday. The three were returned to Thailand later Tuesday.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear and the land it occupies to Cambodia, a decision that still rankles many Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced style of the more famous Angkor complex in northwestern Cambodia.

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