Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed the hope here on Tuesday that Cambodia and Thailand would exercise restraint and be able prevent an open conflict on the border in the spirit of Asean solidarity.
He made the statement upon arrival at the Halim Perdanakusumah from visiting East Java after receiving a report from foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda that the situation on the border between Cambodia and Thailand was tense again and open to the possibility of a military conflict.
"Soon after arriving here I immediately talked with Prime Minister Hun Sen on the latest situation on the border. I hoped no armed conflict would take place and dialogue could be continued in line with the peaceful spirit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)," he said.
According to him Prime Minister Hun Sen said a worse situation could be prevented because Cambodia also wanted to settle the problem peacefully through bilateral negotiations with Thailand.
"It was also mentioned that tomorrow (15/10) there will be a working group meeting to discuss the conflict," he said.
President Yudhoyono said Hun Sen had assured him he would prevent the situation from escalating and settle it peacefully with Thailand.
"I have also called Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to convey my worries because if the conflict continues it will become worse. Moreover, now when we are still concerned with overcoming the financial crisis," he said.
He said the Thai prime minister also said that he had a strong will to settle the conflict peacefully.
On October 21, he said, the two countries would also hold a more substantive formal meeting to seek a peaceful solution of the problem.
"I will continue monitoring their good will, moreover Indonesia as one of the Asean founding fathers is expected to be able to help solve the conflict," he said.
Minister Hassan Wirajuda had earlier talked with Asean secretary general Surin Pitsuwan who had also been concerned over the development on the border of the two Asean common member countries.
Pitsuwan who was formerly Thai foreign minister hoped Indonesia could play a more role in preventing possible armed conflicts and would push the two countries to continue their bilateral talks.
Due to the latest development Thai prime minister Sochai Wongsawat had cancelled his plan to visit Indonesia on October 22 and had assigned his foreign minister to come to Indonesia.
On the cancellation President Yudhoyono said he could understand it and hoped the situation would be better.
In the past few months Thailand and Cambodia had disputed an area around an old Khmer temple of Preah Vihear located on the border between the two countries.
The tension escalated in July after the temple was declared a world heritage belonging to Cambodia by the UNESCO, angering Thai nationalists who still consider it their country`s.
The situation led to a military tension with around 1,000 Cambodian and Thailand soldiers facing each other for six weeks before the two sides later in August promised to withdraw.
Talks to discuss the withdrawal of the remaining soldiers from around Preah Vihear Temple scheduled last month were cancelled following a political upheaval in Thailand.
Source: http://www.antaranews.com (October 15, 2008)