PHNOM PENH: Thai and Cambodian soldiers exchanged rocket and small arms fire on a disputed stretch of their border on Friday, the latest flare-up in a long-running feud over a 900-year-old Hindu temple.Both sides accused each other of firing first in a clash lasting nearly an hour at Eagle Field, near the Preah Vihear temple, which was at the centre of a military stand-off between the Southeast Asian neighbours last year.There were no reports of wounded or dead. Thai and Cambodian military commanders on the border agreed to meet at midday to avoid further violence. General Srey Doek, Cambodia's commander at the temple, said a Thai patrol crossed into Cambodian territory and opened fire on his men. "The Thais fired rockets and rifles at us, and we responded in the same way," he told. Both sides agreed a ceasefire after their border commanders spoke by radio. In Bangkok, Thai officials denied their troops had trod on Cambodian soil and accused the other side of shooting first. "This was just a misunderstanding," Thai army chief Anupong Paochinda said.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
Comments