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PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia: Cambodia called Tuesday for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to resolve a military standoff with neighbouring Thailand over a temple.
More than 500 Thai troops are facing off against at least 1,000 Cambodian soldiers around a small Buddhist pagoda on disputed land near the ruins of an ancient temple, which belongs to Cambodia.
"In order to avoid armed confrontation" the country requests "an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to find a solution to the problem in accordance with international laws," the Cambodian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP earlier Tuesday that a third party was needed to help solve the standoff.
Senior Thai and Cambodian defence officials emerged from hours of closed-door talks on Monday with no resolution to the week-long standoff.
The World Court ruled in 1962 that the 11th century Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia. But the most accessible entrance lies in Thailand, and 4.6 square kilometres of the surrounding land remains in dispute, stirring nationalist sentiment in both countries.
Tensions flared last week when three Thais tried to enter Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple, and both sides stationed troops around a small Buddhist pagoda on a mountain slope leading to the temple ruins.
- AFP/yb
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