Bangkok Post, December 22, 2011
Thai and Cambodian military authorities have agreed to withdraw their troops from a provisional demilitarised zone near the Preah Vihear temple and let Indonesian observers supervise the area.
The agreement was made at the 8th meeting of the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) in Phnom Penh yesterday.
"Both sides will withdraw all troops from existing positions [in the demilitarised zone] simultaneously under the observation of Indonesian observers," they said in a joint statement after the meeting.
A military source said the Cambodian side asked its Thai counterpart to withdraw troops by Jan 20, but the Thai side refused to accept it.
Instead the Thai side proposed the setting up of a joint working group to discuss details of the troop withdrawal, and Cambodia agreed with it.
The source said border patrol police of the two countries will be deployed to replace troops in the 17.3 square kilometre demilitarised zone in accordance with the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) provisional order.
The source said each country would deploy more than 1,000 border patrol police to replace the troops despite the fact they claimed earlier they would send about 400 border patrol police each.
Cambodia proposed that both countries immediately follow the provisional demilitarised zone order of the ICJ, welcome Indonesian observers and withdraw soldiers from the zone, of which 8.5 sq km is in Thailand and 8.8 sq km is in Cambodia, under the supervision of the observers.
The Thai side agreed with the proposal.
The agreement is just one crucial resolution bearing fruit at the GBC meeting, co-chaired by Thai Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tea Banh.
Gen Yutthasak said he will propose the result of the meeting to the cabinet for consideration next week.
He said the joint working group would meet in Bangkok next month to discuss details of the troop withdrawal, the deployment of observers and the relocation of Cambodian markets and communities from the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda.
"We are not delaying the ICJ's order, in fact we are abiding by it," Gen Yutthasak said.
He insisted Thailand will not lose sovereignty and territory from any decision made at the GBC meeting.
He said Gen Tea Banh had also apologised to Thailand after Cambodian troops last week fired on an unarmed Thai helicopter along the Thai-Cambodian border near Trat province.
The ICJ made the provisional demilitarised zone order in response to Cambodia's request on April 28 for it to order Thailand to withdraw soldiers and stop all military activities around the Preah Vihear temple.
Among other resolutions, Thailand and Cambodia also agreed to promote peace and safety along their border and acknowledge that peace and safety are the key to their economic and social development.
They also agreed to support the work of their Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) and use the GBC to promote marine security and suppress illicit businesses along their border.
They will join forces to suppress drug trafficking, the trade of ancient artifacts, vehicle theft, illegal logging and illegal immigration, to dispose of mines and promote public health along their shared border.
Another resolution is that Thailand will host the next GBC meeting with the schedule yet to be set.
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