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Thailand and Cambodia agree to extend peace pact / Photo: © POOL/AFP
Thailand and Cambodia agree to extend peace pact
Thailand and Cambodia agreed Thursday to extend a shaky ceasefire deal that followed five days of deadly hostilities along their border last month.
At least 43 people were killed in the conflict that ended last Tuesday, after a long-standing dispute over border temples boiled over into violence.
A truce was brokered by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim -- chair of the ASEAN regional bloc -- after cajoling by US President Donald Trump and a team of Chinese mediators.
The deal dictated a ceasefire, followed by a meeting of rival regional commanders, before defence officials held three days of talks in Kuala Lumpur that concluded with a joint statement on Thursday.
"Both sides agree to a ceasefire involving all types of weapons, including attacks on civilians and civilian objects and military objectives of either side, in all cases and all areas," it said.
"This agreement must not be violated under any circumstances."
In the first days of the truce, both Thailand and Cambodia accused each other of breaching the deal with limited skirmishes along their shared 800-kilometre (500-mile) border, though clashes quickly dropped off.
The joint statement signed by Thai Deputy Defence Minister Nattaphon Narkphanit and Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Seiha said they agreed to continue a freeze on border troop movements and patrols.
"We are here for a detailed ceasefire arrangement to stop bloodshed and the suffering by soldiers and civilians of both sides," Tea Seiha told reporters at a press conference.
"The steps are life-saving measures and lay groundwork for restoring confidence, trust, and normalcy between our two countries."
The statement scheduled another meeting within a month and said both sides would also "agree to refrain from disseminating false information or fake news in order to de-escalate tensions".
"In order for our discussions today to result in concrete outcomes, both sides needed to show cooperation and sincerity," Natthaphon told reporters.
The contested temples are claimed by both nations because of a vague demarcation made by Cambodia's French colonial administrators in 1907.
This month's clashes were the deadliest in the region in over a decade and caused more than 300,000 people to flee combat areas on both sides of the border.
N.Wilson--SFF
