Thursday, November 19, 2009

RI to Bridge Thailand-Cambodia Conflict

Kamis, 19 November 2009
Renne R.A Kawilarang, Harriska Farida Adiati

VIVAnews – The diplomatic conflict between Thailand and Cambodia in the last two weeks have interrupted the ASEAN’s integrity. Indonesia as one of the ASEAN members is prepared to help resolving the conflict between the two neighboring countries.

“The issues between the two countries are contradicting the integrity of ASEAN, which we want to develop between ASEAN member countries,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa in Jakarta on Thursday, Nov. 19. “Indonesia is ready to traverse the conflict solving between the two countries if needed,” he added.

Natalegawa also said that during the APEC meeting in Singapore last weekend, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had a meeting with the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

“We listened to both sides’ view of the problem,” he said. “We will discuss it further to see whether there will be a resolution for both.”

He said that communication between the two countries is needed and Indonesia can be a part of the communication process to manage the situation. Natalegawa added that ASEAN has yet to propose any solution upon this issue.

The tension between Cambodia and Thailand has risen since the Cambodian government threw out Thailand diplomats who were located in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Nov. 12. Thailand then made a similar gesture by expelling the Cambodian diplomats in Bangkok.

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Translated by: Ariyantri E. Tarman

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