Surayud reaffirms ties with Cambodia
PHNOM PENH - Thailand's military-backed premier Surayud Chulanont held talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Sunday and reassured him that there would be no change in bilateral ties following a coup.
Surayud, who arrived here for a one-day trip, also told Hun Sen that Thailand would hold elections in October 2007, as promised by the military, which ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup last month."The Thai government is committed to its promise to hold elections," Surayud was quoted by Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith as telling Hun Sen. Cambodia was the second stop on Surayud's first overseas tour since taking office following the putsch on September 19. His cabinet, which will govern until next year's promised polls, was sworn in on October 9. The trip followed Surayud's one-day visit Saturday to neighbouring communist Laos, where he held talks with Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh. The Cambodian government spokesman, who is also Information Minister, said Surayud reassured Hun Sen that there would be no change in bilateral relations following the coup. "The Thai premier expressed that his government is committed to keeping bilateral cooperation between Cambodia and Thailand," Khieu Kanharith told reporters following the summit talks. Surayud told Hun Sen "not to worry about" the post-coup government's policy toward Cambodia, the spokesman said, calling the summit talks "fruitful." The new premier also said the two neighbors should cooperate more to combat bird flu, which has killed 17 people in Thailand and six in Cambodia. The Surayud government will continue talks with Cambodia on dividing offshore energy resources along their border and on financing for a new road from Thailand to Cambodia's tourism hotspot Siem Reap, the spokesman said. The talks on offshore energy and better road travel to Siem Reap, the gateway city to Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple complex, were launched by Hun Sen and the deposed Thaksin. Cambodia welcomed Surayud, a former army general, as the kingdom's post-coup prime minister, said the government spokesman, but he declined to comment on the ousting of Thaksin itself. "We consider the issue in Thailand as their internal affairs," he said. Following his Cambodian trip, Surayud is due to visit Malaysia, Thailand's southern neighbour, on Wednesday and is expected in other Asean capitals soon. He is also scheduled to travel to China later this month to mark the 15th anniversary of relations between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). In mid-November, he is to join the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi and in December he is also expected to attend the Asean summit in the Philippines. Agence France-Presse
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