Thailand and Cambodia face diplomatic pressure to end dispute

A Cambodian soldier poses for a picture as his unit takes up position near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple on the border between Thailand and Cambodia February 8, 2011.


Thailand and Cambodia faced growing diplomatic pressure today to end an armed standoff on a stretch of border surrounding a 900-year-old clifftop temple as guns held silent for a second day.

Reuters witnesses said about 20 Thai tanks were sent to a military camp in Kantaralak district in Thailand’s Sri Sa Ket province close to the disputed border, but Thai army officials said they were not reinforcing troops in the area.






Thailand and Cambodia blame each other for provoking intense exchanges of fire that killed at least three Thais and eight Cambodians since Friday. At least 34 Thais and 55 Cambodians were wounded, according to official statements from both sides.

Diplomats at the UN Security Council said it was possible the 15-nation body would discuss the issue next week after Washington, China and Southeast Asia’s ASEAN regional grouping issued statements urging both sides to show restraint.

Bilateral talks could take place in New York, possibly on Monday when Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya is to brief the Security Council, said his spokesman, Thani Thongpakdi. His Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, is also due in New York.

“There is a possibility that the two will meet on the sidelines,” said Thani, adding that this year’s Association of South East Asian Nations chair, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, will also be in New York.

Thailand and Cambodia are both members of ASEAN, which plans to form a European-style single market by 2015 and has urged bilateral talks to end the fiercest fighting on the disputed border since the early 1990s, when Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge forces operated in the area.

At the border, Thai and Cambodian soldiers held fire for a second day after a clash on Friday set off four days of fighting in the 4.6-square-km (2-square-mile) contested area around the Preah Vihear temple claimed by the Southeast Asian neighbors.

“The situation remains calm but what happens next depends on the Thai troops,” Chea Dara, deputy commander of the Cambodian army, told Reuters.

MORE THAI TANKS

Cambodian troops continued to dig trenches around the temple.

Three Cambodian soldiers interviewed by Reuters on Wednesday said the number of Cambodians killed is likely higher than the government has indicated. They declined to be identified by name because they were not authorised to comment.

“There are many more deaths and injuries. People would be shocked,” said one of the soldiers, adding that his deputy commander was killed in a clash on Sunday when a Thai shell hit the area near their unit.

Their statements could not be immediately confirmed by the Cambodian government.

In Cambodia’s northern frontier areas, schools and temples have been turned into makeshift refugee centres.

Reasons behind the fighting remain unclear. Some analysts say hawkish Thai generals and nationalist allies may be trying to topple Thailand’s government or create a pretext to stage another coup and cancel elections expected this year.

Others say it may be a breakdown in communication channels at a time of strained relations over Cambodia’s flying of a national flag in the disputed area and laying of a stone tablet inscribed with “This is Cambodia.”

The temple, known as Preah Vihear, or “Mountain of the Sacred Temple,” in Cambodia and Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand, sits on a triangular plateau that forms a natural border.

Both sides have been locked in a standoff since July 2008, when Preah Vihear was granted UNESCO World Heritage status, which Thailand opposed on grounds that territory around the temple had never been demarcated.

The International Court of Justice in 1962 awarded the temple to Cambodia, which uses a century-old French map as the basis for its territorial claims, but the ruling failed to determine ownership of the scrub next to it.

Japan mulls drilling near disputed gas field

Japan may start drilling near a gas field in disputed waters of the East China Sea if China does the same, the Nikkei business daily reported today, as territorial tensions between the countries grow.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his foreign minister said Tokyo will take “countervailing steps” if China starts drilling at the Chunxiao gas field to which Beijing recently sent equipment, Nikkei said, adding that Tokyo had looked into possibly taking the case to international maritime court.

Anti-Japan protesters display a banner which reads: "Get out from Diaoyu islands" during a rally in Hong Kong



The exchange over the gas field is adding to an increasingly testy Sino-Japanese argument about territorial rights in the seas, especially around a group of uninhabited islets called the Diaoyu islands in China and the Senkaku islands in Japan.

The dispute flared earlier this month after Japan arrested the captain of a Chinese fishing boat, following collisions with Japan Coast Guard ships near the islands.

China has repeatedly demanded Japan free the captain, whose detention period is set to expire today, and has bared its anger by cancelling planned talks with Japan over natural gas reserves.

Japanese prosecutors can hold the Chinese boat captain for up to a total of 20 days, up to September 29, while deciding whether to take legal action.
Yesterday, about a hundred Chinese protesters in several Chinese cities demanded Japan free the boat captain. Police presence was still heavy at the Japanese embassy in Beijing today but there were no signs of protests.
The two countries are at odds over China’s exploration for natural gas in the East China Sea, while Beijing is also involved in territorial disputes with Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea over an area rich in energy and key to shipping.

The Sino-Japanese row centres on where the boundary between the two sides’ exclusive maritime economic zones falls. In 2008, the two countries agreed in principle to solve the feud by jointly developing gas fields.
Estimated net known reserves in the disputed fields are a modest 92 million barrels of oil equivalent, but both sides have pursued the issue because there may be larger hidden reserves.

China suspends contacts as Japan boat row deepens

China suspended high-level exchanges with Japan today and promised tough countermeasures after a Japanese court extended the detention of a Chinese trawler captain who collided with two Japanese coastguard ships.

The spat between Asia’s two largest economies has flared since Japan arrested the captain, accusing him of deliberately striking a patrol ship and obstructing public officers near uninhabited islets in the East China Sea claimed by both sides.

Policemen arrest an anti-Japan protester near the Japanese embassy in Shanghai yesterday, September 18, 2010.

“China demands that Japan immediately release the captain without any preconditions,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement on the ministry’s website (www.mfa.gov.cn), repeating that China viewed the detention as illegal and invalid.

“If Japan acts wilfully despite advice to the contrary and insists on making one mistake after another, the Chinese side will take strong countermeasures, and all the consequences should be born by the Japanese side,” Ma said.

Japan’s decision has “seriously damaged Sino-Japan bilateral exchanges”, state television added, reading out a separate response from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China has suspended ministerial and provincial-level bilateral exchanges with Japan, halted talks on increasing flights between the two countries and postponed a meeting about coal with Japan, the report said.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that the trawler captain’s detention had been extended until September 29. The Japanese court could not be reached for comment.

The Japanese government had no immediate comment.

Sino-Japanese ties have long been plagued by feuds over wartime history and rivalry over territory, resources and military intentions, although they have improved since a chill in 2001-2006, as deep economic ties raise the risk from rows.

The Chinese captain, Zhan Qixiong, has remained in custody after a Japanese court approved for the first time on September 10 an extension of his detention. Prosecutors can hold him for up to a total of 20 days while deciding whether to take legal action.

The latest feud over the uninhabited isles — called the Diaoyu islands in China and the Senkaku islands in Japan — has stirred mutual distrust over sovereignty and control of potentially valuable oil and gas reserves.

China has repeatedly demanded Japan free the captain and has shown its anger by cancelling planned talks with Japan over natural gas reserves.

Yesterday, about 100 Chinese protesters in several Chinese cities demanded Japan free the boat captain. Police presence was still heavy at the Japanese embassy in Beijing today but there were no signs of protests.

The Nikkei business daily reported earlier today that Japan may start drilling near a gas field in disputed waters of the East China Sea if China does the same.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his foreign minister said Tokyo would take “countervailing steps” if China started drilling at the Chunxiao gas field to which Beijing recently sent equipment, Nikkei said, adding that Tokyo had looked into possibly taking the case to the international maritime court.

The two countries are at odds over China’s exploration for natural gas in the East China Sea, while Beijing is also involved in territorial feuds with Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea over an area rich in energy and key to shipping.

The Sino-Japanese row centres on where the boundary between the two sides’ exclusive maritime economic zones falls. In 2008, the two countries agreed in principle to solve the feud by jointly developing gas fields.

Estimated net known reserves in the disputed fields are a modest 92 million barrels of oil equivalent, but both sides have pursued the issue because there may be larger hidden reserves.

Hillary Clinton steps into Falklands row after 'feeble' Obama fails to back Britain in stand-off with Argentina

* Hillary Clinton 'prepared to mediate' in Falklands row
* Spanish oil company to drill near Falklands

U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton is due to meet with Argentina's president amid accusations of a snub to Britain over America's refusal to support the UK in the Falklands oil drilling row.

Mrs Clinton is to meet Cristina Ferndandez de Kirchner in Uruguay on March 1, Argentina's ambassador to the U.S. has announced.

Hopes are high in Argentina that Mrs Clinton will intervene on the country's behalf in the row with Britain over the disputed territory.

Respected Argentine newspaper La Nacion quoted State Department sources that claimed Mrs Clinton was 'prepared to mediate' in the row.

America's lack of support for Britain was last night blamed on the UK's decision to release sensitive U.S. intelligence on a terror suspect.

President Barack Obama was accused of being 'feeble' by failing to back London in the stand-off with Argentina over the disputed islands, despite the 'special relationship'.
Mrs Clinton and Mrs Kirchner are meeting in Uruguay as they attend the presidential inauguration there of José Mujica.

Argentina already has the support of Latin America and the Caribbean in the row with Britain, and regional leaders are expected to press the case with Mrs Clinton.
London and Buenos Aires are at odds over UK firm Desire Petroleum's decision to drill for oil 60 miles north of the Falklands.

Geologists estimate there are up to 60billion barrels of oil in the seabed.

The Argentine government has tabled a UN resolution condemning the plan. It has also secured backing from 32 South American nations supporting its claim that Britain has occupied the islands illegally since 1833.

But despite Argentina's sabrerattling, senior U.S. officials insist Washington's position on the oil drilling is neutral.

It is also 'taking no position' on the issue of sovereignty of the islands in the South Atlantic.

A senior MP and a respected foreign policy think-tank claimed Washington's stance was 'payback' for the British courts ordering the disclosure of secret CIA files on Binyam Mohamed.

Two weeks ago, the U.S. said it was 'deeply disappointed' that Foreign Secretary David Miliband had been told by Court of Appeal judges to publish closely-guarded information about the former Guantanamo Bay prisoner.

The papers detailed evidence showing MI5 knew that Mohamed, a British citizen, had been tortured by U.S. spies after he was detained in Pakistan in 2002.

This week the White House has refused to endorse the UK's historic sovereignty over the islands and its right to explore for oil in its waters.
Last night, the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based foreign affairs think-tank, said Mr Obama's stance was linked to anger at the release of the secret files.

Executive director Alan Mendoza said: 'The Obama administration's decision to ignore the democratic rights of the Falkland islanders is disgraceful.

'It can only be motivated by moral weakness in the White House or a misplaced desire to punish Britain for the Binyam Mohamed case and the disclosure of U.S. intelligence documents.

'The decision, while feeble, is unsurprising. For the past year, Mr Obama has followed a foreign policy path that punishes allies and democracies while allowing rogue authoritarian nations like Iran and North Korea to pursue their objectives.'

The criticism was echoed by Tory MP Patrick Mercer, the chairman of the Commons' terrorism sub-committee. 'The U.S. position on the Falklands certainly seems to be a warning shot which says to Britain: "Don't mess us around too much or we could make life problematic",' he said.

Last week, it was revealed that a conference to mark 60 years of UK and American defence intelligence sharing had been cancelled after the Mohamed judgment. It was to have been held at the U.S. Embassy in London.

Relations between the UK and U.S. nosedived last summer over the decision by the Scottish authorities to release the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al Megrahi back to Libya.
Yesterday it was revealed that a Spanish company is also set to begin drilling for oil near the Falklands.

Repsol is to start drilling by December some 200 miles off the Argentine coast - 'well within Argentine waters', a spokesman claimed.

Last year, Repsol bought Argentine company YPF - the biggest private oil and gas company in Latin America.
The spokesman told the BBC it will be exploring a 'few' wells some 150 miles from where the Ocean Guardian is drilling.

In 1982, 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers died when Britain took military action to recover the islands after the Argentine invasion.

Yesterday General Sir Peter de la Billiere, a former UK commander who is vice president of the Falkland Islands Association, issued a 'hands-off' warning to Argentina.

He said the country would suffer the 'most unbearable losses' if it followed up the diplomatic skirmishes with military action.

Sir Peter said: 'We have demonstrated our intention to fulfil the islanders' wishes and support them if they are threatened.

'I can see no reason or justification or political will in the UK to do anything other than that.

'We did not lay down 255 lives just to give up and walk out a few years later.'

Last night, a Foreign Office spokesman denied there was a link between the U.S. position on the Falklands and the Mohamed case.

Argentina's accusations over the Falklands have been compared to 'the case of the lost girlfriend'.

'Argentina lost its girlfriend, and now she is going out with somebody else,' Federico Mac Dougall, an economist and political analyst at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, told the New York Times..

He added: 'And together they may very well strike it rich with oil.'


Lack of support: Barack Obama and his wife Michelle at a ceremony at the White House last night. America has not offered its support to the UK in the Falklands oil drilling row

High hopes: U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, left, is due to meet with Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, right, in Uruguay on March 1

The row between Argentina and Britain centres on the Ocean Guardian, which is drilling for oil off the Falkland Islands

Flashback: In 1982, 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers died when Britain took military action to recover the islands after the Argentine invasion

Sticking point: The British decision to release intelligence information regarding the torture of Binyam Mohammed, above, is said to be behind America's lack of support for the UK

Argentina's rocky relationship with Obama

Relations between Buenos Aires and Washington since Barack Obama came to power have been less than 'special'.
Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is said to be in Mr Obama's bad books after refusing to meet with the U.S. assistant secretary of state for the region, Arthur Valenzuela, in December of last year.

She is also the only major Latin American leader not to have met with the U.S. president since he came to power.

However hopes are high in Argentina for her meeting with Hillary Clinton in Uruguay next week.

US fear widen rift in Afganisthan if votes go runoff

Obama administration officials hoped the Afghan election would demonstrate that eight years after the American invasion, the country was stable enough to justify an expanded commitment of money and troops from an increasingly skeptical American public.

Obama praised the millions of Afghans who came out to vote on Thursday despite the threat of violence.

"I was struck by their courage in the face of intimidation and their dignity in the face of disorder," he said. "There is a clear contrast between those who seek to control their future at the ballot box and those who kill to prevent that from happening."

The election is major test for Karzai after eight years in office and for Obama's new regional strategy to defeat the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan.

"Our goal is clear: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and their extremist allies. That goal will be achieved," Obama said. "We look forward to renewing our partnership with the Afghan people as they move ahead under a new government."

Key Candidates are :-

Abdullah Abdullah

United National Front opposition alliance

An ophthalmologist. Was foreign minister until 2006. Spent years in the resistance against Soviet and Taliban rule.Mr. Abdullah is seen as a moderate reformer and the only challenger with a chance at forcing Mr. Karzai into a runoff. He refused an offer to become Mr. Karzai’s running mate. He appeals to Afghans who want to move the center of power away from warlords and mujahedeen leaders. He says he would work toward reconciliation with the Taliban, but has doubts that Taliban leaders are ready to negotiate.His party has support among Northern tribes. Although he has both Pashtun and Tajik backgrounds, he is seen as more allied with the Tajik community.

Ramazan Bashardost

Independent

Was President Karzai’s planning minister. Is a current member of Parliament .Mr. Bashardost is running on an anticorruption platform, calling Mr. Karzai and other technocrats “the Taliban with neckties.” As planning minister, he gained populist appeal by rejecting perks and donating his salary to pay for the lunches of his employees. He resigned after the government failed to expell aid organizations that he accused of cronyism. In 2005, he won the third-highest vote total in the parliamentary elections.Hazaras are one of the larger minority groups in the country. He lacks the money and willingness to pay for the backing of tribal networks.

Hamid Karzai

Incumbent president

Led the interim government after the Taliban fell in 2001. Was elected president in 2004 with 55 percent of the vote.President Karzai is the front-runner, despite losing popularity in recent years because of the resurgence of the Taliban and corruption in his administration. Mr. Karzai is the most vocal candidate in calling for peace negotiations, pledging that he will hold a traditional tribal gathering and invite members of the Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, another opposition leader.Critics of the president say he has lined up the support of a half dozen warlords who have guaranteed their support in exchange for backroom deals.

Ashraf Ghani

Independent

Was a World Bank official. Was finance minister in President Karzai’s cabinet until 2004.Mr. Ghani is running a sophisticated campaign using television, radio, and the Internet, as well as traditional networks like religious councils. He vows to curb government corruption and to find the revenue to create a million jobs and a million houses. He promises to close the detention center at Bagram Air Base within three years. He supports negotiating a cease-fire with the Taliban, prior to a process of reconciliation.Mr. Ghani says that Pashtuns, who are the largest ethnic group, see him as an alternative to Mr. Karzai, who is also Pashtun.

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Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, has been out on the campaign trail in an area where the Taliban has a significant presence.

Karzai has promised to bring an end to the violence in the country - along with improving infrastructure and education.

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