BANGKOK, THAILAND, July 20, 2012 (UPI): Thailand and Cambodia have pulled back their troops from the disputed border area around Preah Vihear, a ninth-century Hindu temple. Bangkok and Phnom Penh have been at a standoff around the 900-year-old temple in the Dangrek Mountains on the Thai-Cambodia border for several years and several military confrontations. The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple — since 2008 a World Heritage site — was on Cambodian land. However, some access to the mountaintop site passes through Thai territory, a route that Thai troops occasionally seal off.
The recent agreement to withdraw troops is “the first step” in following the International Court of Justice’s order in July last year, a report in The Bangkok Post said. The court, which sits in The Hague, agreed on a vote of 11-5 that Thailand and Cambodia should immediately withdraw troops from the disputed area and for the area to become a temporary demilitarized zone. The ICJ will make its final ruling on ownership likely late next year, the Post said.