Senior officials from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces are scheduled to meet with their Thai counterparts in Phnom Penh tomorrow for a second round of discussions about withdrawing troops from the disputed border areas around the Preah Vihear temple.

The three-day meeting of the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Working Group will discuss the execution of last year’s International Court of Justice ruling that both countries withdraw troops from the area around the temple.

“We are speeding up the discussion of troop withdrawal [from the Provisional Demilitarised Zone],” said General Neang Phat, who will co-chair the meeting. “Cambodia is ready for the implementation of the ICJ’s order ruled on July 18 last year, but Thailand is still pushing back and forth. We don’t know why.”

After Cambodia filed a complaint on the heels of a string of deadly clashes, the ICJ ordered both countries to immediately withdraw troops from the area, and to allow ASEAN observers from Indonesian access to the zone.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vong Sokheng at [email protected]