ASEAN to discuss Thai-Cambodia tension - diplomat

A police officer walks past the national flags of countries attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore July 21, 2008.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Thailand and Cambodia will meet on Tuesday, a Thai diplomatic source said, after marathon talks failed to end a week-long military stand-off over an ancient temple on their border.

The meeting at noon (0400 GMT) in Singapore will be chaired by Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo and is in response to a letter sent to him by Cambodia's government late on Monday, asking the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to intervene to cool escalating tensions between the neighbours.

"The meeting will be held at 12 p.m. today, and will be attended by the foreign ministers from Thailand and Cambodia and will discuss the situation over the temple," the diplomatic source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Other ASEAN foreign ministers may also be at the meeting, an ASEAN official said.

At the heart of the dispute is a 4.6 sq km area around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which sits on a jungle-clad escarpment that forms a natural boundary and is claimed by both nations. The temple was awarded to Cambodia by an international court in 1962.

The military showdown began last Tuesday when Thai troops moved into the disputed area after three Thai protesters were briefly detained there. Since then, both sides have sent hundreds more soldiers and heavy artillery to the border.

After complaining to the United Nations on Friday that Thailand had violated its "sovereignty and territorial integrity," Phnom Penh took its case to ASEAN.

Cambodia has asked ASEAN to form an Inter-Ministerial Group of foreign ministers from Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Laos to "find a peaceful solution to the current crisis and to avoid a military confrontation between two ASEAN members."

ASEAN foreign ministers are holding their annual series of meetings first amongst themselves, then with Asia-Pacific powers culminating in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which has ambitions to deal with issues such a the Thai-Cambodia spat.

Monday's talks on the Thai-Cambodia border partly bogged down over which maps should be used to settle ownership of the temple and surrounding area, officials said.