PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s government has filed notice under a U.N. agreement on maritime law for compulsory conciliation of a sea border dispute with neighboring Thailand, Prime Minister Hun Manet said Tuesday.At issue is territory claimed by both that is believed to contain large, exploitable amounts of natural gas and other hydrocarbons.The decision to take the matter to the the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, comes after Thailand last month terminated a 25-year-old memorandum of understanding with Cambodia meant to resolve overlapping maritime claims. Thailand unilaterally revoked the agreement in May after relations between the countries worsened last year after major armed clashes over their land border.Last year’s fighting with Cambodia spurred nationalistic fervor, putting political pressure on Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to abrogate the pact.
In a live broadcast on TVK state television, Hun Manet said that his government had delivered formal notice to Thailand and to the U.N. secretary-general to begin compulsory conciliation proceedings under UNCLOS rules.
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