PHNOM PENH - Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen gave Thailand an ultimatum yesterday to withdraw troops from a disputed stretch of border within 24 hours or his forces would turn the area into a "death zone".
"Thai troops must withdraw from Cambodian land by tomorrow at the latest," Hun Sen told reporters after meeting Thai foreign minister Sompong Amornvivat in Phnom Penh. "We will not allow them to occupy our land."
The Thai army denied any incursion by its soldiers near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which sits on the natural escarpment dividing the two nations and which has been a source of enmity for decades.
"We see that territory is our land, too. What would it mean if we retreated?" Mr Sompong told reporters in Bangkok. "If the Cambodians think it is their land, too, we should start bilateral talks to sort that out very quickly."
Tensions have been high since July when about 1,000 soldiers on both sides faced off yards apart in trenches dug into a hillside.
The area is still littered with landmines from the Khmer Rouge era, and two Thai soldiers lost legs earlier this month the day after a brief exchange of fire in which soldiers on both sides were wounded.
Cambodian deputy defence minister General Neang Phat said more troops were headed to oppose Thai soldiers who crossed the border. "We are building up our troops at the border in response to Thailand, but I cannot reveal the number," he said.
At the heart of the dispute is 4.6sq km of scrub near the temple, which the International Court of Justice awarded to Cambodia in 1962. - ( Reuters)