Cambodia seeks U.N. help in Thai temple row

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Cambodia has asked the United Nations Security Council for an emergency meeting to resolve a military stand-off with Thailand over an ancient temple on their border.

Phnom Penh's appeal to the world body came after bilateral talks on Monday failed to end the week-long border

"In order to avoid armed confrontation, the Royal Government of Cambodia has decided to request an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to find a solution to the problem in accordance with international laws," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia were due to meet on the sidelines of a regional security meeting in Singapore later on Tuesday, Thai and Cambodian sources said.

The meeting will be chaired by Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo and is in response to a letter sent to him by Cambodia's government late on Monday, asking the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to intervene to cool escalating tensions between the neighbors.

The issue will also be discussed with all of ASEAN's foreign ministers at their lunch break, ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan told reporters.

"We will have to deal with the issue of the two neighbors, but we cannot control the situation," said Surin, himself a Thai national.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said neither Cambodia nor Thailand was opposed to ASEAN's mediation efforts.

"The two of them are very willing to submit to the (ASEAN) jurisdiction," he said.

HEART OF DISPUTE

At the heart of the dispute is a 4.6 sq km (1.8 sq mile) area around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which sits on a jungle-clad escarpment that forms a natural boundary and is claimed by both nations.

The 900-year-old temple was awarded to Cambodia by an international court in 1962.

The military showdown began a week ago when Thai troops moved into the disputed area after three Thai protesters were briefly detained there. Since then, both sides have sent hundreds more soldiers and heavy artillery to the border.

Cambodia has asked ASEAN to form an Inter-Ministerial Group of foreign ministers from Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos to "find a peaceful solution to the current crisis and to avoid a military confrontation between two ASEAN members".

ASEAN foreign ministers are holding their annual series of meetings first amongst themselves, then with Asia-Pacific powers culminating in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which has ambitions to deal with issues such a the Thai-Cambodia spat.

Monday's talks on the Thai-Cambodia border partly bogged down over which maps should be used to settle ownership of the temple and surrounding area, officials said.

The dispute is testing ASEAN's unity while it is in the midst of ratifying a charter that would turn the 41-year-old grouping into an EU-style, rules-based organization.

"The border engagement is not only relevant in terms of the problem that we see between the two states, but also it could be a test to ASEAN," said Rais, the Malaysian foreign minister.

"For the first time now, two of its members are facing what we call 'a border predicament'"