Military talks

DEFENCE ministers and military field commanders from Cambodia and Thailand met yesterday to discuss the redeployment of troops from both sides along the shared border, officials said.

Chea Dara, deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces based in Preah Vihear province, said he attended a meeting yesterday morning with Thai General Thawatchai Samutsakorn.

“The purpose of the meeting was to minimise the military confrontation along the border,” Chea Dara said. “We followed the agreement between the two prime ministers during their meetings in New York and Brussels.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva have met twice recently, once in New York on September 24 and again in Belgium last week.

Also yesterday, Minister of Defence Tea Banh met unofficially with his Thai counterpart, Prawit Wongsuwan, while the pair were in Hanoi to attend a retreat for ASEAN Defence Ministers.