Two killed in Thai border dispute

Fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops over a border dispute has killed two people.

Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said two Cambodians were killed and at least seven soldiers from both sides were wounded.

This is the fourth month of tension between soldiers over the Preah Vihear temple, a 900-year-old Hindu ruin sitting on an escarpment on the border.

Mr Hor Namhong said a scheduled meeting between the two countries on the border dispute would go ahead as planned on Thursday, suggesting that escalation was not inevitable.

He added: "It is a good sign that we can start to solve this conflict. We consider this an incident between soldiers and not an invasion by Thailand."

Mr Hor Namhong said Cambodia's army had captured ten Thai soldiers but the Thai military said no soldiers were missing.

The temple has been a source of tension between the two southeast Asian nations for more than a century.

The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962 but it failed to determine ownership of 1.8 square miles of scrub next to the ruins.

The small parcel of land became highly politicised in July when the Thai anti-government movement adopted it as a cause.

Within days, 2,000 soldiers were facing off in trenches dug into a hillside that until ten years ago was under the control of remnants of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot's guerrilla army.

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