BANGKOK, March 5 (NNN-Bernama) — Asean fears that Cambodia may send a wrong signal to the world when that country conducted multiple rocket test yesterday in the wake of its cold relations with Thailand.
Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan said Friday that Cambodia might have signaled as though the region was unstable.
“We are very concerned with such development,” he told Bernama after attending the International Conference on Changing Global Landscape and its Implications on Regional Architecture, at the Bangkok Convention Centre here.
Asked whether Asean considered the test as an act of provocation by Cambodia, he said: “I have no details. I have to look into the details first.”
Cambodia fired about 200 rounds from the Soviet-made BM21 rocket launcher in the mountains of remote Kampong Chhnang province, about 80km north of Phnom Penh and hit target within a range of 20km to 40km.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was reported as saying that the exercise was to prepare for the defence of his country and not about showing any military capabilities even though Cambodia and Thailand were at loggerheads.
Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thursday that Thailand had no problem with the exercise as it was a normal practice for a country to conduct military exercises.
Thailand and Cambodia have long outstanding border claims over an area surrounding an ancient Hindu temple, known as Preah Viher in Cambodia and as Phra Viharn in Thailand, which was named a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
The world court ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia but it did not touch on the disputed surrounding area.
Thai-Cambodian relations took a nose dive when Cambodia named fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as its economic advisor late last year and refused to extradite him to Thailand despite requests.
Thaksin was reported to be living in self-exile in Dubai to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption. — NNN-BERNAMA
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[...] March 5, 2010 the Cambodian military conducted multiple rocket tests in the remote Kampong Chhnang province (pictured above). Using a Soviet-built BM21 rocket launcher, [...]