News Khmer

http://news.ph.msn.com/

By Agence France-Presse

11/7/2009

(Posted by CAAI News Media)

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Saturday said Japan was "concerned" about the recent spat between Cambodia and Thailand over Phnom Penh's job offer to a fugitive former Thai premier, an official said.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Saturday said Japan was "concerned" about the recent spat between Cambodia and Thailand over Phnom Penh's job offer to a fugitive former Thai premier, an official said.

"I'm concerned about the recent situation," Hatoyama told his visiting counterpart Hun Sen at a bilateral meeting, as quoted by a Japanese foreign ministry official.

"I hope the problem between the two countries will improve" as they are important neighbours in the Mekong River region, Hatoyama said.

Hun Sen said "the situation in border areas is stable although there have been verbal exchanges between the two countries over the past two-to-three months," according to the Japanese official.

The bilateral meeting came after Japan's summit talks with five Mekong River countries, which also include Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

There was no bilateral talk between Hun Sen and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva the Japanese foreign ministry knows of, the official said.

Hatoyama had a separate meeting later Saturday with Abhisit, who said he wanted to "keep the problem from worsening," the official said.

Thailand said Friday it would tear up an oil and gas exploration deal with Cambodia, stoking a row over Phnom Penh's naming of fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an economics adviser.

The government in Bangkok also warned that it could seal the border between the two countries, one day after the neighbours both recalled their respective ambassadors in the escalating spat.