Thailand and Cambodia agreed Monday to an unconditional cease-fire in Malaysia, marking a major step toward ending five days of deadly border clashes that have left dozens dead and tens of thousands displaced.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai agreed to a halt in fighting, starting at midnight, while appearing with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during a meeting held under U.S. pressure in the Malaysian administrative capital of Putrajaya. The Cambodian and Thai leaders hailed the meeting’s outcome and shook hands at the end of a brief news conference.
An Associated Press journalist in Cambodia, reporting from close to the border with Thailand, where artillery duels had been taking place, said the sounds of shelling stopped about 10 minutes before the ceasefire came into effect. Reports from other fronts in the fighting were not immediately available.
The fighting began Thursday after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. Both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes, which have killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 260,000 people on both sides.
Anwar, who hosted the talks as annual chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, said both sides have reached a common understanding to take steps to return to normalcy following what he called frank discussions.
