Villagers Flee Thailand-Cambodia Border

By SOPHENG CHEANG / AP WRITER

PREAH VIHEAR — Thai and Cambodian troops faced off at a disputed border zone as military officials from both sides headed for urgent peace talks Thursday, a day after a deadly gunbattle erupted near an 11th century temple.

Thousands of Cambodian villagers near the hilltop Preah Vihear temple fled their homes, fearing more violence. Families packed rice, clothes and chickens into cars, pickup trucks and carts pulled by motorized plowing machines, forming long convoys heading away from the border zone.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said military officials from both sides would meet later in the day in Thailand to discuss the previous day's clash, which killed at least two Cambodian soldiers and wounded a total of eight from both sides.

"The situation on the border is calm, but Thai and Cambodian troops are still facing each other at critical points," said Col Thanya Kiatisarn, a Thai military official at the border.

On the Cambodian side, Associated Press reporters saw dozens of additional Cambodian troops in armored personnel carriers on their way to the front line.

"We have been ordered by our commanders to be on alert and ready to fight," said a Cambodian soldier at the temple, Capt. Theam Thuy.

Wednesday's clash was the first deadly fighting since July, when the UNESCO approved Cambodia's bid to make Preah Vihear temple a UN World Heritage site. The decision flared long-standing tensions between the neighbors, who both claim land around the temple, and prompted the two countries to rush troops to the border.

Many Thais feared their country's claim over nearby land would be undermined, and anti-government protesters pressed the Thai government to take a harder line on the border conflict. The protesters have riled their country's politics by seeking the ouster of the ruling party, occupying the grounds of the prime minister's offices for the past two months.

The fighting Wednesday afternoon lasted for about an hour, with each side accusing the other of firing first.

The battle killed at least two Cambodian soldiers and wounded three others, according to Cambodia's Foreign Ministry. Five Thai soldiers were wounded, the Thai army said.

Thailand's Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat told reporters Thursday "we will use negotiation as a means to solve the problem."

"Though there was a clash yesterday, it was not a major one," he said.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry said Thai soldiers were peacefully patrolling their own territory along the border when Cambodian soldiers shot at them with rocket propelled grenades and submachine guns.

Cambodia's Foreign Ministry accused Thai troops of launching "heavy armed attacks" at three different locations to push back Cambodians from positions inside Cambodian territory.

The fighting was the latest flare-up in a decades-old dispute over a stretch of jungle near the Preah Vihear temple. The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. would urge both sides to refrain from violence. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged restraint and called on the two sides to quickly resolve the dispute.

Thailand's more than 300,000-strong military uses modern American equipment and dwarfs Cambodia's 125,000 less well-equipped troops. Cambodian forces however are well versed in guerrilla warfare after fighting an intense civil war against the communist Khmer Rouge.