Cambodia agrees ceasefire with Thai army

Cambodia: Thai and and Cambodian troops agreed on Thursday to a ceasefire, Cambodia's government said, after a week of clashes that have killed at least 15 people in Southeast Asia's deadliest border dispute in years.

Both sides also agreed to re-open a border point near two disputed 12th-century Hindu temples to allow displaced people to return to their homes and villages, Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said.

"We will abide by the ceasefire from now on and local commanders will meet regularly to avoid misunderstanding," he said. Fighting in the area had stopped after a brief morning clash, said Cambodian Colonel Suos Sothea.

"The situation is now quiet," he said.

Earlier, Thailand reinforced the area with tanks following a night of shelling that killed a Thai soldier and wounded seven. Eight Thai tanks had rolled through deserted villages towards the front lines where troops on both sides were sealed off by heavily guarded roadblocks, about 7 km (4.3 miles) away.

"Thailand has always wanted a ceasefire but we are still working out the detail as to how to enforce it," said Thai regional commander Thawatchai Samutsakorn.

"The declaration on the Cambodian side is a good sign. Let's try to enforce it."

The fighting has forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 people on both sides in a jungle-clad and heavily landmined frontier that cuts through the Dangrek Mountains.

Sovereignty over the ancient, stone-walled Hindu temples - Preah Vihear, Ta Moan and Ta Krabey - and the jungle of the Dangrek Mountains surrounding them has been in dispute since the withdrawal of the French from Cambodia in the 1950s.

But analysts are sceptical the conflict - which first flared with Feb. 4-7 clashes at another stretch of the border - is really about sovereignty and say it is being politically driven, from either side, pushing the stakes higher. Phnom Penh, Thursday, Reuters