Cambodian govt musters support from huge crowds in Thai border row
A massive crowd led by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many -- Prime Minister Hun Manet's youngest brother -- joined a 'Solidarity March' to support Cambodia's government and troops stationed on the border with Thailand.
Singing patriotic songs and flourishing Cambodian flags and portraits of Hun Manet and his father, former leader Hun Sen, supporters marched to the Independence Monument in the heart of the capital.
One Cambodian soldier was killed on May 28 as troops exchanged fire in a disputed area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet.
The Thai and Cambodian armies both said they acted in self-defence.
Hun Many told the crowd that the march was 'an encouragement and additional energy for the government and our forces.'
'When the country faces a threat or any insult, the Cambodian people will not stay still, we will stand up in united spirit,' he said.
Cambodia has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to help resolve the border dispute in four areas -- the site of last month's clash and three ancient temples.
Cambodian leaders have repeatedly said the move was to prevent further military clashes.
Long-running row
Hun Manet said Tuesday evening he wanted to maintain 'peace and good cooperation' with Thailand.
'Filing a complaint at the ICJ to resolve the dispute peacefully is our best option to keep friendship and good cooperation with Thailand,' he said.
The two sides held talks in Phnom Penh at the weekend, which Thailand said had made progress, but the row shows little sign of dying down.
Cambodia on Tuesday banned imports of Thai fruit and vegetables after Bangkok refused to lift border crossing restrictions imposed in recent days.
Cambodia last week banned Thai dramas from TV and cinemas, closed a popular border checkpoint, and cut internet bandwidth from Thailand.
Hun Manet said Tuesday that a return to normality depended on the Thai authorities.
'The ball is in the hands of (the) Thai side, Thai military,' he added.
Thailand says it wants a negotiated solution and has urged Cambodia to stop 'unofficial' communication -- an apparent reference to fiery interventions by Hun Sen, who stepped down in 2023 but still wields great influence.
The border row dates back to the drawing of the countries' 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier in the early 20th century during the French occupation of Indochina.
Cambodia has previously sought help from the ICJ in a territorial dispute over a border temple.
In 1962, the court ruled that the disputed Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia, and in 2013, the ICJ awarded an area next to the temple to Cambodia as well.
Thailand said it did not accept the court's jurisdiction.
Violence sparked by the dispute has led to at least 28 deaths in the region since 2008.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
23 minutes ago
- The Sun
Netanyahu, Trump halt Gaza ceasefire talks as humanitarian crisis worsens
JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON/CAIRO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump appeared on Friday to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, both saying it had become clear that the Palestinian militants did not want a deal. Netanyahu said Israel was now mulling 'alternative' options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending Hamas rule in the enclave, where starvation is spreading and most of the population is homeless amid widespread ruin. Trump said he believed Hamas leaders would now be 'hunted down', telling reporters: 'Hamas really didn't want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it's very bad. And it got to be to a point where you're going to have to finish the job.' The remarks appeared to leave little to no room, at least in the short term, to resume negotiations for a break in the fighting, at a time when international concern is mounting over worsening hunger in war-shattered Gaza. French President Emmanuel Macron, responding to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, announced that Paris would become the first major Western power to recognise an independent Palestinian state. Britain and Germany said they were not yet ready to do so but later joined France in calling for an immediate ceasefire. British Prime Minister Keith Starmer said his government would recognize a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal. Trump dismissed Macron's move. 'What he says doesn't matter,' he said. 'He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight.' Israel and the United States withdrew their delegations on Thursday from the ceasefire talks in Qatar, hours after Hamas submitted its response to a truce proposal. Sources initially said on Thursday that the Israeli withdrawal was only for consultations and did not necessarily mean the talks had reached a crisis. But Netanyahu's remarks suggested Israel's position had hardened overnight. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas was to blame for the impasse, and Netanyahu said Witkoff had got it right. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Facebook that the talks had been constructive, and criticised Witkoff's remarks as aimed at exerting pressure on Israel's behalf. 'What we have presented - with full awareness and understanding of the complexity of the situation - we believe could lead to a deal if the enemy had the will to reach one,' he said. Mediators Qatar and Egypt said there had been some progress in the latest round of talks. They said suspensions were a normal part of the process and they were committed to continuing to try to reach a ceasefire in partnership with the U.S. The proposed ceasefire would suspend fighting for 60 days, allow more aid into Gaza, and free some of the 50 remaining hostages held by militants in return for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel. It has been held up by disagreement over how far Israel should withdraw its troops and the future beyond the 60 days if no permanent agreement is reached. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister in Netanyahu's coalition, welcomed Netanyahu's step, calling for a total halt of aid to Gaza and complete conquest of the enclave, adding in a post on X: 'Total annihilation of Hamas, encourage emigration, (Jewish) settlement.' MASS HUNGER International aid organisations say mass hunger has now arrived among Gaza's 2.2 million people, with stocks running out after Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March, then reopened it in May but with new restrictions. The Israeli military said on Friday it had agreed to let countries airdrop aid into Gaza. Hamas dismissed this as a stunt. 'The Gaza Strip does not need flying aerobatics, it needs an open humanitarian corridor and a steady daily flow of aid trucks to save what remains of the lives of besieged, starving civilians,' Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, told Reuters. Gaza medical authorities said nine more Palestinians had died over the past 24 hours from malnutrition or starvation. Dozens have died in the past few weeks as hunger worsens. Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute it, in what the Israeli foreign ministry called on Friday 'a deliberate ploy to defame Israel'. The United Nations says it is operating as effectively as possible under Israeli restrictions. United Nations agencies said on Friday that supplies were running out in Gaza of specialised therapeutic food to save the lives of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher also has demanded that Israel provide evidence for its accusations that staff with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were affiliated with Hamas, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The ceasefire talks have been accompanied by continuing Israeli offensives. Palestinian health officials said Israeli airstrikes and gunfire had killed at least 21 people across the enclave on Friday, including five killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City. In the city, residents carried the body of journalist Adam Abu Harbid through the streets wrapped in a white shroud, his blue flak jacket marked PRESS draped across his body. He was killed overnight in a strike on tents housing displaced people. Mahmoud Awadia, another journalist attending the funeral, said the Israelis were deliberately trying to kill reporters. Israel denies intentionally targeting journalists. Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli towns near the border, killing some 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages on October 7, 2023. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, health officials there say, and reduced much of the enclave to ruins. - Reuters
Malaysian Reserve
23 minutes ago
- Malaysian Reserve
Cambodia calls for ceasefire with Thailand after deadly clashes
UNITED NATIONS, United States — Cambodia wants an 'immediate ceasefire' with Thailand, the country's envoy to the United Nations said Friday, after the neighbors traded deadly strikes for a second day, with Bangkok also signaling an openness to talks. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, prompting the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis Friday. 'Cambodia asked for an immediate ceasefire — unconditionally — and we also call for the peaceful solution of the dispute,' said Phnom Penh's UN ambassador Chhea Keo following a closed meeting of the Council attended by Cambodia and Thailand. A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border Friday, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and five more wounded. More than 138,000 people have been evacuated from Thailand's border regions, its health ministry said, reporting 15 fatalities — 14 civilians and a soldier — with a further 46 wounded, including 15 troops. Fighting resumed in three areas around 4am on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday), the Thai army said, with Cambodian forces firing heavy weapons, field artillery, and BM-21 rocket systems, and Thai troops responding 'with appropriate supporting fire.' Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nikorndej Balankura told AFP that fighting had begun to ease off by Friday afternoon, however, adding that Bangkok was open to talks, possibly aided by Malaysia. 'We are ready, if Cambodia would like to settle this matter via diplomatic channels, bilaterally, or even through Malaysia, we are ready to do that. But so far we have not had any response,' Nikorndej told AFP, speaking before the UN meeting had been held. Malaysia currently holds the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, of which Thailand and Cambodia are both members. Earlier, acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai had warned that if the situation escalated, 'it could develop into war.' 'For now, it remains limited to clashes,' he told reporters in Bangkok. Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket. At the UN, Cambodia's envoy questioned Thailand's assertion that his country, which is smaller and less militarily developed than its neighbor, had initiated the conflict. '(The Security Council) called for both parties to (show) maximum restraint and resort to a diplomatic solution. That is what we are calling for as well,' said Chhea Keo. None of the other attendees of the UNSC meeting spoke to reporters. The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbors — both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists — over their shared 800-kilometer (500-mile) border. Dozens of kilometers in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. A UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash. Fighting on Thursday was focused on six locations, according to the Thai army, including around two ancient temples. Ground troops backed up by tanks battled for control of territory, while Cambodia fired rockets and shells into Thailand and the Thais scrambled F-16 jets to hit military targets across the border. In the Cambodian town of Samraong, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border, AFP journalists saw families speeding away in vehicles with their children and belongings as gunfire erupted. 'I live very close to the border. We are scared,' Pro Bak, 41, told AFP. He was taking his wife and children to a Buddhist temple to seek refuge. — AFP
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Mixed Palestinian reactions to France's plan to recognise state
RAMALLAH: Palestinians voiced mixed reactions after French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to recognise a Palestinian state, with optimism tempered by ongoing suffering in Gaza. Nabil Abdel Razek, a Ramallah resident, expressed cautious hope, saying, 'We hope it will be implemented, and we hope that most or all countries around the world will follow France's lead in recognising the Palestinian people's right to an independent state.' The Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah, was established under the 1993 Oslo Accords as a step toward statehood. Newspapers in the West Bank city highlighted Macron's announcement, with political activist Ahmed Ghoneim stating, 'All of these decisions not only affirm the rights of the Palestinian people, but also contribute to changing the violent reality in the region and lead to greater stability.' Ghoneim also hoped France's move would encourage other European nations to follow suit, as 142 UN members already recognise Palestine. However, analysts remain skeptical. Political commentator Nour Odeh questioned, 'The question for Palestinians is what will France do NOW about Israel starving them in Gaza.' Ines Abdel Razek of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy argued that France should instead address the crisis directly, saying, 'What France should have recognised is the genocide and taken measures to end it and end the occupation.' She urged France to sever ties with Israel and impose trade restrictions. Despite the symbolic nature of France's gesture, activist Samer Sinijlawi found optimism in Macron's call for Palestinian elections, calling it a 'brings us hope' moment. - AFP
