UN chief offers to mediate in Thai-Cambodia dispute
HA NOI — United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has showed his willingness to work as a mediator in the Cambodia-Thailand border dispute, the Cambodian media reported. The deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary General, Farhan Haq, replied to an email from the Cambodian press on August 18 saying that, "The Secretary-General is willing to mediate situation when both sides request him to do so".
Last week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called for an international conference to seek a peaceful solution to the two-year-long dispute over the Preah Vihear temple which has world heritage status.
Hun Sen said that he would put forward the proposal to Ban Ki-moon as he plans to pay a two-day official visit to Cambodia in late October.
Cambodia 's Foreign Affairs spokesperson Koy Kuong also welcomed Ban Ki-moon's response to the border issue.
Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Cam-bodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen are expected to meet when they attend the upcoming Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) early in October in Brussels, the Nation online reported yesterday.
ASEAN Secretary General Dr Surin Pitsuwan, who was on transit to Jakarta, Indonesia, on Wednesday, expressed the hope that the two leaders would take the opportunity in Belgium's capital to discuss bilateral issues of mutual concerns.
Premier Abhisit and Hun Sen will join the other Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN leaders to meet their European counterparts in Brussels, where the EU headquarters is situated.
In a related development, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban has reiterated that Thailand wants only bilateral talks with Phnom Penh to settle the border conflict.
Surin's revelation came after his trip to capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, early this week leading a Thai-Muslim delegation to visit Cambodian-Muslim community at the invitation of Hun Sen, the Thai News Agency (TNA) reported. — XINHUA/VNA/VNS