Preah Vihear temple “is Cambodian” – UN
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The UN has ruled that the UNESCO-listed Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia.
The ancient hilltop complex, which dates back to the 9th Century, has been at the centre of a bitter dispute between Cambodia and Thailand in recent years, which has led to sporadic military clashes along the nearby border.
The site was awarded to Cambodia in 1962, and today the International Court of Justice upheld that ruling, confirming that the temple complex and all land in the vicinity around it, belongs to Cambodia.
“The court… concludes that the first operative paragraph of the 1962 judgement determined that Cambodia had sovereignty over the whole territory of the promontory of Preah Vihear,” the court said in its ruling. It also ordered “Thailand to withdraw from that territory”.
Despite the ruling, the majority of tourists will still have to access the temple complex from Sisaket province, on the Thai side of the border.
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