Cambodia to ask UN help secure ceasefire

Cambodia said it would ask the UN Security Council to help secure a "permanent ceasefire" with Thailand as both countries prepared to brief the world body yesterday about a deadly border dispute.
The Security Council is set to hold a closed-door meeting in New York with the foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand to discuss four days of fighting near an 11th-century temple that left at least 10 people dead earlier this month, according to a new toll.
Both sides blame each other for starting the violence around Preah Vihear temple that displaced thousands of families and that Cambodia's outspoken government has labelled a "war" but Thailand has played down as clashes.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong "will raise the issue of the invading war by Thailand against Cambodia," his spokesman Koy Kuong told AFP ahead of the meeting.
The country's top diplomat "will also ask the United Nations to help secure a permanent ceasefire" between the two nations, he added.
The ancient temple has been a source of contention between Thailand and Cambodia since it was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.
The World Court ruled in 1962 that the clifftop structure belonged to Cambodia but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) surrounding area.