The UN's highest court on July 18 ordered Thailand and Cambodia toimmediately withdraw their troops from a disputed area around anancient temple on the border between the two Asian neighbours.
The French news agency (AFP) said the decision by the Hague-basedInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) came after an urgent request byCambodia in April, asking the court to order Thailand to withdraw itstroops and cease military activity around the 900-year-old Khmertemple of Preah Vihear and the scene of clashes earlier this year.
"Both parties should immediately withdraw their military personnel fromthe provisional demilitarised zone and refrain from any militarypresence within that zone," said the order, read by ICJ president JudgeHisashi Owada.
"Having noted that the temple area had beenthe scene of armed clashes between the parties and that such clashes mayreoccur, the court decided there was an urgent need for the presence ofall armed forces to be temporary excluded from a provisionaldemilitarised zone around the area of the temple," he said.
In late April Cambodia launched a bitter legal battle before the ICJin which it asked for an interpretation of a 1962 ruling on the PreahVihear temple.
While judges pondered that decision,Cambodia also asked for it to order Thailand to withdraw troops andstop military activity.
Thailand in turn, asked forCambodia 's request to be scrapped from the court's general list, arequest unanimously turned down on Monday.
A decision on Cambodia 's main request for an interpretation of the 1962 order could take the court several months.
AlthoughThailand did not dispute Cambodia 's ownership of the temple,secured by the 1962 ICJ ruling, both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claimthe 4.6 square kilometre area surrounding the Khmer complex.
The court urged the two countries to continue to work with theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to come to an agreementand to allow observers representing the 10-nation bloc to have access tothe provisional demilitarised zone around the temple./.
The French news agency (AFP) said the decision by the Hague-basedInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) came after an urgent request byCambodia in April, asking the court to order Thailand to withdraw itstroops and cease military activity around the 900-year-old Khmertemple of Preah Vihear and the scene of clashes earlier this year.
"Both parties should immediately withdraw their military personnel fromthe provisional demilitarised zone and refrain from any militarypresence within that zone," said the order, read by ICJ president JudgeHisashi Owada.
"Having noted that the temple area had beenthe scene of armed clashes between the parties and that such clashes mayreoccur, the court decided there was an urgent need for the presence ofall armed forces to be temporary excluded from a provisionaldemilitarised zone around the area of the temple," he said.
In late April Cambodia launched a bitter legal battle before the ICJin which it asked for an interpretation of a 1962 ruling on the PreahVihear temple.
While judges pondered that decision,Cambodia also asked for it to order Thailand to withdraw troops andstop military activity.
Thailand in turn, asked forCambodia 's request to be scrapped from the court's general list, arequest unanimously turned down on Monday.
A decision on Cambodia 's main request for an interpretation of the 1962 order could take the court several months.
AlthoughThailand did not dispute Cambodia 's ownership of the temple,secured by the 1962 ICJ ruling, both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claimthe 4.6 square kilometre area surrounding the Khmer complex.
The court urged the two countries to continue to work with theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to come to an agreementand to allow observers representing the 10-nation bloc to have access tothe provisional demilitarised zone around the temple./.
