Cambodia, Laos close to agreement on disputed frontier

Cambodia, Laos close to agreement on disputed frontier
AGENCE FRANCE PRESS

PHNOM PENH, APRIL 25: Cambodia and Laos have moved to within months of resolving a long-running border dispute, Prince Norodom Ranariddh said on Tuesday. The Prince said talks with visiting Lao Premier Sisavath Keobounphanh, who arrived to a red carpet and fanfare welcome here on Monday, had yielded the possiblity of settling their jungle frontier before the end of this year.

"The visit of the Laos Prime minister has offered the posssibility of strengthening our friendship, cooperation and peace between our two countries," said Prince Ranariddh, Cambodia's parliamentary speaker. "His visit will also help to solve the remaining problem of the border issue within this year or by early 2001 at the latest," he added.

Officials said Sisavath's five-day visit has also so far seen the signing of cooperation agreements of culture, education and information, as well as talks on the purchase of Lao electricity by Cambodia.

"Our countries have no problem with each other," Prince Ranariddh explained after talks with Sisavath, who has also met his counterpart Hun Sen and King Norodom Sihanouk. "When we talk about the border issue, it is Laos with whom we have the least problems."

The Cambodian government has come under increasing local pressure to settle its ill-defined frontiers with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, amid regular student protests over alleged land-grabbing by Cambodia's neighbours. Cambodia and Laos, both former Soviet-bloc allies, are two of the most recent members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which also groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.