Monday, November 9, 2009

ASEAN Secretary-General appeals Cambodia, Thailand to exercise maximum restrain

JAKARTA, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Secretary-General of ASEAN, Surin Pitsuwan, has appealed Cambodia and Thailand to exercise maximum restraint and asked ASEAN foreign ministers to assist the two countries to end the dispute.

Surin informed the ministers that he has received many inquiries and expressions of concern from ASEAN's Dialogue Partners and friends over the apparent deterioration of relations between Cambodia and Thailand, as evidenced in the recalling of their Ambassadors earlier this week.

The secretary general said that the dispute could undermine the credibility of ASEAN.
"We in ASEAN cannot afford to be seen as being so seriously divided prior to the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders Meeting and the historic ASEAN-US Leaders Meeting in Singapore this month," he said in a statement received by Xinhua on Monday.

The Secretary-General pointed out that in line with the spirit of the ASEAN Charter and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) of 1976, all other Member States in ASEAN are obliged to offer assistance to help fellow Member States settle their settlement.

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