Damage to temple on Thai-Cambodia border minimal

[February 08, 2011]  PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (AP) -- A historic temple that was the scene of artillery battles between Cambodia and Thailand appears to have suffered minimal damage, as journalists used a fragile truce Tuesday to inspect the site.

Four days of shelling in the dispute]d border region blackened hillsides surrounding Preah Vihear temple and shrapnel from the blasts chipped away at some of the sanctuary's ancient walls, but the damage was light and the structure remained intact.

Cambodian officials said over the weekend that Thai artillery collapsed "a wing" of the temple, but Thai officials dismissed the account as propaganda. Tuesday was the first day journalists were able to visit the temple since Cambodia made the claim.

The two nations have clashed several times in the area since 2008, when the U.N. declared Preah Vihear a World Heritage site. But the latest skirmishes were the most intense yet, marking the first time artillery and mortars have been used, according to soldiers and locals.

At least seven people have died in the clashes that began Friday. One civilian and one soldier from Thailand have been killed, and another 25 Thai soldiers have been wounded. Cambodia's says five Cambodians have been killed, including at least two soldiers, and 45 people wounded.

Cambodian troops used a shaky cease-fire Tuesday to dig fresh positions and stack sandbags around the temple, which was awarded to Cambodia in a 1962 World Court ruling that many Thais dispute.

"It's quiet now, but fighting could start again at any time," said Pho Suong, a Cambodian soldier deployed at Preah Vihear. "We're on high alert. We will not fire first, but if we are attacked, we will fire back."

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, whose country holds the current chairmanship of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said in Bangkok on Tuesday that both sides "are committed to ensure that the situation stabilizes." Natalegawa spoke after talks with his Thai counterpart.

The temple -- located just several hundred feet (meters) from the border with Thailand -- has fueled nationalism in both countries for decades. The latest fighting comes as Thailand's embattled government faces protests from ultranationalists at home who say it hasn't done enough to protect Thailand's sovereignty in the border region.

While the World Court ruled on the temple's ownership, some of the tree-lined border around it has yet to be demarcated.

Built between the 9th and 11th centuries, the temple sits atop a 1,722-foot (525-meter) cliff in the Dangrek Mountains about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of the Cambodian capital.

It is dedicated to the Hindu diety Shiva, but it was later used as a Buddhist sanctuary. The temple is revered partly for having one of the most stunning locations of all the temples constructed during the Khmer empire -- the most famous of which is Angkor Wat.

[Associated Press; By TODD PITMAN]

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