Thai military denies entering Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- A Cambodian official claimed Tuesday that about 40 Thai troops crossed into Cambodia's territory, as tensions mounted in a dispute over land near an ancient border temple. The Thai military denied any incursion.

A group of Cambodian Boy Scouts walk through Preah Vihear temple on Sunday.

Thai military officials said troops had simply deployed near the disputed area "to protect our sovereignty."

Hang Soth, director-general of the national authority for Preah Vihear temple, said the Thai troops entered Cambodia near Preah Vihear, center of a long-standing quarrel between the neighbors that escalated when UNESCO recently declared it a World Heritage Site.

"Confrontation is occurring between Thai troops and our Cambodian troops, but there is no shooting yet," Hang Soth said. "Our troops have been ordered to be on alert but not to fire first."

The incident claimed at least one casualty. A land mine explosion sheared the right leg off a Thai soldier patrolling in the area, said Thai Army Deputy Spokesman Col. Sirichan Ngathong.

Stretches of the Thai-Cambodian border still seethe with land mines sown by various sides during the 1970-75 Cambodian War and the guerrilla conflict that followed the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

Maj. Gen. Kanok Netakawesana, an army field commander in the region, said in a telephone interview that his troops were on Thai soil close to the disputed area. He declined to give the number of soldiers deployed.

"We are not violating the territory of Cambodia. We have every right to deploy troops here to protect our sovereignty," Kanok said.

The movement of Thai troops followed the arrest by Cambodia of three Thai citizens for crossing the border earlier Tuesday.

The incident marked the first cross-border foray by Thai protesters since Cambodia shut off access to Preah Vihear temple to visitors from Thailand late last month.

Preah Vihear was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site a week ago despite objection from Thai groups. The two countries have a long-standing dispute over the land that surrounds the temple, and Thai activists have recently revived nationalist sentiment over the issue.

Hang Soth said a Thai Buddhist monk, a woman and a man apparently managed to evade a checkpoint on the Thai side and crossed through a jungle border into Cambodia earlier Tuesday.

He said they were immediately stopped by guards and that Cambodian authorities were ready to hand the protesters back to Thailand, "so I don't understand why Thai troops still had to enter Cambodia. They want to provoke us."

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the temple and the land it occupies to Cambodia, a decision that still rankles many Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced style of the more famous Angkor complex in northwestern Cambodia.

Cambodia's recent move to secure the temple's world landmark status has angered political leaders in Thailand and sparked small protests by some Thais who feared it would jeopardize their country's claims to disputed land adjacent to the site.

Some Thais have been protesting the listing and demanding the eviction of Cambodians living on land near the temple. In response, Cambodia has sealed off access to the temple from Thailand since June 22.

Domestic opponents of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej have seized on the issue in attempts to bring down his government.

On Tuesday, the activist movement People's Alliance for Democracy, launched impeachment proceedings against the government by submitting 40,000 signatures of eligible voters to the upper house of Parliament.