January 12, 2010
PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodia refused Monday to revoke the appointment of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an adviser and said it was up to Bangkok to resolve the diplomatic row between the two countries.
Relations between Thailand and Cambodia, which have fought a string of deadly gunbattles on their border, plunged to a new low late last year when Phnom Penh appointed the fugitive billionaire Thaksin as an economics guru.
Both recalled their ambassadors in November and expelled senior diplomats, while diplomatic tensions soared further when
Phnom Penh refused to extradite Thaksin during his first visit to Cambodia.
"It (the appointment of Thaksin) is the sovereign right of Cambodia. Thailand has no right to interfere in this issue," Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told AFP in an interview.
"The appointment was made by the king's royal decree, we cannot revoke as (Thai Foreign Minister) Kasit Piromya has demanded," he added.
"It is not a childish game."
Thailand's Kasit said in an interview with the Financial Times published Monday that the two countries could not normalise relations until Cambodia revoked Thaksin's appointment.
Twice-elected Thaksin was toppled in a coup in 2006 and is living abroad to escape a jail term for corruption imposed in absentia in 2008. Thaksin -- and the Cambodian government -- say the charges were politically motivated.
Hor Namhong said Thailand had started the row and so must end it too.
"It is up to Thailand. If Thailand sends its ambassador back, we will announce that we will send our ambassador back 15 minutes later," Hor Namhong said.
"Now, the ball is in the Thai court. It's up to Thailand whether to kick it or not," he added.
Thousands of Thaksin's supporters, known as Red Shirts, rallied in Thailand on Monday at the rural house of a royal aide who served as military-backed premier for a year after the coup.
