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PHNOM PENH: Tensions flared on Cambodia's border with Thailand Tuesday, as 40 Thai soldiers entered their neighbour's territory in a dispute over a 900-year-old Hindu temple.
Bangkok and Phnom Penh officials both said the trespass was caused by a misunderstanding after the soldiers went to pick up three Thai protesters arrested for jumping an immigration checkpoint to reach the Preah Vihear temple.
"The Thai soldiers will return soon. They came to pick up the three protestors but they confused the places," said Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh.
Thai officials insisted the soldiers had not crossed the border.
Hang Soth, who heads the agency that manages the Preah Vihear temple, said the soldiers had entered a Buddhist pagoda on the slope of the mountain leading to the ruins.
"At first about 20 troops entered a pagoda in Cambodian territory. Later they increased their numbers to about 40," he said.
The troops and Cambodian border authorities discussed the situation to make sure no one opened fire, he said.
"We are in negotiations with them so that there is no gunfire and to avoid serious future problems," Hang Soth said.
The governor of the Thai province across from the temple denied that the soldiers were on Cambodian soil.
"It's a misunderstanding. There is no trespassing by our soldiers," governor Seni Chittakasem told AFP.
Seni said he had led a delegation into Cambodia to secure the release of the three protesters, insisting that the soldiers had remained nearby but on Thai territory.
"All three detainees have been released and now are on the Thai side," he added.
The protesters -- one man, one woman and a Buddhist monk -- had placed wooden planks over barbed wire on the border to get across, vowing to reclaim the temple, which the World Court handed over to Cambodia in a 1962 ruling.
The 11th-century Preah Vihear is at the centre of a long-running territorial dispute as the main compound lies inside Cambodia but the most accessible entrance is at the foot of a mountain in Thailand.
Cambodia closed the main border crossing leading to the temple after about 100 Thai protesters tried to march to the site on June 23.
The protesters are part of a group calling themselves Dharmayatra, which has been camped at the foot of Preah Vihear for the past few weeks.
The temple has provoked a political firestorm in Thailand, after Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government agreed last month to support Cambodia's bid to win World Heritage status for the ruins.
A Thai court invalidated the agreement, and Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama was forced to resign in the ensuing scandal. The parliamentary opposition is mulling impeachment motions against the entire Cabinet.
Despite the controversy, last week the UN's cultural agency UNESCO awarded the temple World Heritage status in recognition of its importance as an example of ancient Khmer architecture. - AFP/ir
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