There’s news today from the U.N.’s International Court of Justice on the Preah Vihear temple. The BBC says:
The UN’s highest court has ordered Thailand and Cambodia to withdraw troops from a disputed border region near an ancient temple complex.
And:
The court said both sides must allow access to observers from the regional bloc Asean.
The AP reports:
The court drew a “provisional demilitarized zone” around the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple that would push Thai troops back from positions they have long occupied and would see Cambodian armed forces leave the temple’s immediate vicinity.
Meanwhile, here is an ICJ press release (PDF) on the ruling.
How will the news affect Thailand’s domestic politics? (Or politics within Cambodia, for that matter?) That’s still unclear.
Before the ruling, the Bangkok Post reported that:
There will not be any immediate troop withdrawal from the disputed area around Preah Vihear temple, regardless of the decision due today from the International Court of Justice, Army Region 2 spokesman Prawit Hukaew said on Monday.
(Emphasis mine.)
For more on the issue, see the Preah Vihear tag.
(Image: Wikipedia.)