Indonesia reiterates need for peaceful resolution of Thai-Cambodia row+

TOKYO, Feb. 18 Kyodo -
Visiting Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Friday that Cambodia
and Thailand must jointly reiterate their commitment not to use force amid
ongoing border skirmishes.
At a news conference at the Japan National Press Club, Natalegawa said Thailand
and Cambodia must ''reinforce or reiterate the commitments that the two sides
have repeatedly made that they will not wish to resort to the use of force in
solving the problem between them.''
''Given the nature of the two countries today, I feel that this commitment must
be made together, rather than simply made separately,'' he said.
The remarks came ahead of a meeting in Jakarta next Tuesday that will bring
together the foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian
Nations to discuss the dispute between the two countries. Indonesia currently
holds the rotating chair of ASEAN.
The latest round of a territorial dispute from Feb. 4 between Cambodia and
Thailand over 4.6 square kilometers of land around the Preah Vihear temple on
the border has led to at least 10 deaths, dozens injured and over 25,000
displaced persons.
Natalegawa visited Phnom Penh and Bangkok earlier this month in a bid to
mediate in the conflict. The U.N. Security Council expressed ''grave concern''
Monday over the border skirmishes and called on both sides to establish a
''permanent'' cease-fire.
The Indonesian foreign minister added that work must be done on ''how to
compromise (on) the two extreme ideas'' to resolve the issue, one being to
deploy a multilateral framework involving a third party and the other being for
bilateral negotiations.
''Gone are the days when ASEAN swept things under the carpet, not addressing
issues head-on. This time around we wish to confront issues head-on to bring
peace and harmony whenever there are difficulties between ASEAN states as we
are doing between Cambodia and Thailand,'' he said.
To address the issue of territorial tensions among China and ASEAN members in
the South China Sea, Natalegawa said Indonesia aims to finalize guidelines to
strengthen the code of conduct, signed by the two sides in 2002 to ensure that
the disputes are resolved diplomatically to avert military conflict.
''The management of potential conflict of the South China Sea is one of the
highest priorities for Indonesia,'' he said. ''To finalize the guidelines, it
would require a lot of efforts and especially cooperation by all the parties,
including China.''
He also emphasized Indonesia's bid in creating a maritime forum for the East
Asia region, where countries can discuss various maritime challenges such as
security, militarization of fishing vessels and environmental issues and also
transparency in military procurement.
Natalegawa met with Prime Minister Naoto Kan in the morning before completing
his two-day visit on Friday.
==Kyodo