The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) urged Thailand and Cambodia to engage in dialogue to resolve their border dispute and end the fighting, which in the past four days have left 12 dead. The secretary general of ASEAN, Surin Pitsuwan, who is also former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, added his call for Secretary General of the Organization of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon, who appealed to both countries to show restraint.
''The world and ASEAN are concerned about the upsurge of violent and deadly confrontations along the border between Cambodia and Thailand,''said Pitsuwan. Both countries signed an agreement in 2000 which undertook to resolve their disputes through ASEAN, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
The call of the ASEAN takes place shortly after the talks were canceled, sponsored by the regional bloc to try to find a solution regarding the territorial dispute around the Preah Vihear temple was declared a world heritage site. On Monday, Cambodian and Thai troops exchanged gunfire for a fourth day in the disputed border area after canceling the talks about who owned the 4.6 square kilometers located in the vicinity of Preah Vihear temple.
The crossfire started this morning at the Ta Moan temple and continued in the afternoon in the temple Ta Kawai, both in the Thai province of Surin, which borders Cambodia to the north, said Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Defence . He said Thai forces on Monday launched six attacks with artillery in the area close to Ta Moan temple in Oddar Meanchey province.
This is the fourth consecutive day in which are recorded in the border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. In the middle of the border conflict, both countries accuse each other so by the start of the fighting, including Cambodia accuses Thailand of using chemical weapons, while Phnom Penh Bangkok ensures that uses civilians as human shields.
According to figures from the Thai authorities, five U.S. soldiers have been killed, 35 injured and about 40 thousand people have been displaced by the conflict, while Cambodia has suffered seven casualties among its ranks of the army, in addition to 10 000 displaced. ''We need to solve the border conflict and that Thailand and Cambodia we sit down to negotiate,''said Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban.
Thailand hopes that bilateral dialogue is required that while Cambodia has international witnesses. Cambodia-Thailand border dispute dragged on since July 2008 when the Organization of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized the temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site in Cambodia.
Thailand admits that the temple is on Cambodian soil, as sentenced by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 1962, but claims an area of 4.6 square kilometers located in the vicinity. 
''The world and ASEAN are concerned about the upsurge of violent and deadly confrontations along the border between Cambodia and Thailand,''said Pitsuwan. Both countries signed an agreement in 2000 which undertook to resolve their disputes through ASEAN, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
The call of the ASEAN takes place shortly after the talks were canceled, sponsored by the regional bloc to try to find a solution regarding the territorial dispute around the Preah Vihear temple was declared a world heritage site. On Monday, Cambodian and Thai troops exchanged gunfire for a fourth day in the disputed border area after canceling the talks about who owned the 4.6 square kilometers located in the vicinity of Preah Vihear temple.
The crossfire started this morning at the Ta Moan temple and continued in the afternoon in the temple Ta Kawai, both in the Thai province of Surin, which borders Cambodia to the north, said Lt. Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Defence . He said Thai forces on Monday launched six attacks with artillery in the area close to Ta Moan temple in Oddar Meanchey province.
This is the fourth consecutive day in which are recorded in the border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. In the middle of the border conflict, both countries accuse each other so by the start of the fighting, including Cambodia accuses Thailand of using chemical weapons, while Phnom Penh Bangkok ensures that uses civilians as human shields.
According to figures from the Thai authorities, five U.S. soldiers have been killed, 35 injured and about 40 thousand people have been displaced by the conflict, while Cambodia has suffered seven casualties among its ranks of the army, in addition to 10 000 displaced. ''We need to solve the border conflict and that Thailand and Cambodia we sit down to negotiate,''said Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban.
Thailand hopes that bilateral dialogue is required that while Cambodia has international witnesses. Cambodia-Thailand border dispute dragged on since July 2008 when the Organization of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized the temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site in Cambodia.
Thailand admits that the temple is on Cambodian soil, as sentenced by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 1962, but claims an area of 4.6 square kilometers located in the vicinity.
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