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Thais accused over new temple row | Thais accused over new temple row |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Cambodia has accused Thai troops of occupying a temple complex on Cambodian land, threatening to escalate a row over a separate, disputed temple. | Cambodia has accused Thai troops of occupying a temple complex on Cambodian land, threatening to escalate a row over a separate, disputed temple. |
About 70 Thais have been at the 13th Century Ta Moan temple complex since Thursday, the Cambodians say. | About 70 Thais have been at the 13th Century Ta Moan temple complex since Thursday, the Cambodians say. |
The Thai foreign ministry has denied any troops have moved into the area. | |
The two nations have for weeks been locked in a military stand-off over disputed land further east, around the ancient Preah Vihear temples. | |
High-level diplomacy has been taking place to resolve the Preah Vihear dispute, which revolves around border areas drawn up by French cartographers a century ago. | |
And an agreement was reached, following a meeting between foreign ministers from both countries, to reduce troop numbers near the temple. | |
Prevented access | |
But Maj Sim Sokha, a Cambodian border-protection officer, told reporters on Sunday that Thai soldiers had been making moves hundreds of miles west of Preah Vihear. | |
He said the Thai troops had been deployed in an 80m (262ft) radius around the Ta Moan Thom temple ground, and had prevented Cambodian troops from entering. | |
He said about 40 Cambodian soldiers were in close proximity to the Thai troops, but had been ordered to exercise restraint while the government tries to resolve the issue with Thailand. | |
"[Thai troops] said they will pull back only when the issue near Preah Vihear temple is resolved," he told the Associated Press by telephone. | |
The Ta Moan complex is in Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, which shares much of its border with the Thai province of Surin. |
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