At the end of talks in Malaysia and after five days of deadly clashes, Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Monday July 28 “Unconditional”from midnight (7 p.m., in Paris), announced the Malaysian Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim. “Cambodia and Thailand have reached a common agreement providing for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire”told journalists the Malaysian Prime Minister after three hours of discussions with his counterparts from the countries concerned.
During the press conference, journalists from the Agency France-Presse (AFP) present in Samraong, in the northwest of Cambodia, about twenty kilometers from the border, heard the noise of artillery fire.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet praised a solution “To move forward”. She will pose, according to him, “The conditions for our bilateral discussions again to lead to normal relationships”. For his part, the acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, praised the intervention of Malaysia, which occupies the rotating presidency of the Association of Nations of Southeast Asia (ASEAN), China and ” president [des Etats-Unis Donald] Trump ». “We have agreed with a ceasefire, which, we hope, will be respected in good faith by both parties”said the manager.
At least 34 dead and 200,000 displaced
Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged artillery fire for five days. The two kingdoms of Southeast Asia are engaged in the deadliest episode in almost fifteen years of a long-term territorial dispute. The exchanges of fire, bombing and air strikes left at least 34 dead and caused the movement of 200,000 people.
Diplomatic relations between the two neighbors have been lowest for decades. The events in progress made twenty -one deaths on the Thai side, including eight soldiers, while Cambodia reported a balance sheet of thirteen dead, including five soldiers. More than 138,000 Thai have evacuated risk areas, according to Bangkok, and more than 80,000 Cambodians, on their side of the border, did the same, according to Phnom Penh.
The two countries dispute the layout of their common border, defined during French Indochina. Before the current fights, the most violent episode linked to this dispute dates back to clashes around the temple of Preah Vihear, between 2008 and 2011, which had made at least forty deaths and tens of thousands of displaced.
The United Nations court had proven Cambodia twice, in 1962 and 2013, on the ownership of the Temple of Preah Vihear, listed as World Heritage in UNESCO, and that of the surrounding area.
