Thai and Cambodian army chiefs to meet over border clash
The military chiefs of Thailand and Cambodia will meet Thursday, both governments said, after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a border clash.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote on Facebook that he hoped the meeting between the two army commanders "will yield positive results." Thailand Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told journalists the talks will be held on Thursday afternoon.
A Cambodian soldier was killed on Wednesday after an exchange of gunfire with the Thai army at the border, a rare fatality along the long-sensitive frontier.
His death came after Cambodian and Thai leaders attended a Southeast Asian summit where the regional ASEAN grouping vowed greater cooperation.
"There will be talks today," Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters Thursday, adding there had been a "misunderstanding by both sides."
Cambodia and Thailand have long been at odds over their more than 800-kilometer border, which was largely drawn during the French occupation of Indochina.
Bloody military clashes between Cambodia and Thailand erupted in 2008 over the Preah Vihear temple near the border.
The row over a patch of land next to the 900-year-old temple led to several years of sporadic violence, resulting in at least 28 deaths before the International Court of Justice ruled the disputed area belonged to Cambodia.
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