A two day meeting of the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Working Group of the General Border Commission has not reached agreement over the implementation of an International Court of Justice ruling that orders a withdrawal of troops from the area around Preah Vihear temple.

Speaking to reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday, Cambodian delegation head Neang Path said  the JWG would meet again in Cambodia, but no date had been set.

“We made progress at the meeting, but we have not yet reached an agreement over the troop withdrawal from the Provisional Demilitarised Zone,” Neang Path said.

ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said at yesterday’s International Conference on Political Public Relations that Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa was still facilitating discussion between Cambodia and Thailand.

“I think the two sides are working through their bilateral mechanism, and I have observed in the meeting that they are discussing and talking to each other, so I hope everything is under control,” Surin said, adding that he had not been told when Indonesian military observers would be dispatched to the PDZ.

Cambodia filed a complaint with the ICJ after deadly clashes near the temple in February last year, asking it to re-interpret its 1962 ruling on territorial claims regarding the temple and surrounding area.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Yuthana at [email protected]

Vong Sokheng at [email protected]