July 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 26, 1429

PHNOM PENH, July 29: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday that his country’s troops were ready to withdraw from a disputed border area, but indicated that Thailand would have to pull out first.

“For us, there is no problem at all. The issue is that it is up to Thailand to decide to act. For us, (we are ready) any time,” Hun Sen told reporters in Phnom Penh.

“The problem is the timing and how long it will take the Thai side to have a political decision from the government,” he said.

His comments came one day after the two countries agreed to consider a redeployment of troops from the area near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, where thousands of soldiers have been facing off for two weeks.

The soldiers have been mobilised since July 15 in and around a small patch of land near the temple, which sits on a mountaintop overlooking the Cambodian jungle.

The ruins of the Khmer temple belong to Cambodia, but the most practical entrance begins at the foot of a mountain in Thailand, and both sides claim some of the surrounding territory.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his newly appointed Thai counterpart Tej Bunnag held talks on Monday in Siem Reap with a handful of top military officials from both countries.

After about 12 hours of talks, the foreign ministers said they would ask their governments to redeploy the troops.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia.

Cambodia had asked the UN Security Council to take up the latest conflict over the temple but suspended its request to allow the current talks to proceed.

Both sides have toned down their rhetoric after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced concern about the conflict and called for a peaceful resolution.—AFP