CAMBODIA SEEKS SUPPORT FOR PREAH VIHEAR INTERNATIONAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000089 SIPDIS DEPT FRO EAP/MLS, IO PARIS PLEASE PASS TO US MISSION TO UNESCO - AMBASSADOR KILLION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KTIA SCUL UNESCO DB SUBJECT: CAMBODIA SEEKS SUPPORT FOR PREAH VIHEAR INTERNATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE, AGREES TO INVITE THAILAND ¶1. ACTION REQUEST IN PARA 9. ¶2. SUMMARY: During a meeting designed to brief Ambassadors from seven nations on the status of the World Heritage site of Preah Vihear, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An welcomed their participation in an International Coordinating Committee (ICC) to help guide the planning for the restoration and management of the site. The DPM noted that Thailand would also be invited, as required by UNESCO in the World Heritage inscription documents. He expects the discussions to be "peaceful and friendly" and said that Cambodia is "seeking cooperation." END SUMMARY ¶3. In a meeting that included Ambassadors and representatives from the United States, India, Australia, France, China, Belgium, Japan, and UNESCO, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An proposed to convene an ICC for the recently inscribed World Heritage site of Preah Vihear, and advised that all countries present plus Thailand would be invited to participate. The Belgian Ambassador (resident in Bangkok) welcomed the proposal and stated his desire to see the ICC convened before the next World Heritage Committee meeting scheduled for July of this year in Brasilia. The UNESCO representative advised that the UNESCO SYG is informed on this issue and hoped to attend the first session of the Preah Vihear ICC. ¶4. The invitation to participate in an ICC came after an extensive briefing by Cambodian and UNESCO representatives on developments at the site since the UNESCO listing by Chuch Poeurn, head of the newly established Preah Vihear authority and dean of the faculty of archeology at the Royal University of Fine Arts and Philippe deLonghe, an archeologist working for UNESCO. DeLonghe's briefing emphasized uniqueness of Preah Vihear as a site that was largely "untouched" at the time of its listing, and touched on the fact that work done since 2006 at the site had "completely changed" the experts' understanding of the site. A professional site management plan has been developed and submitted to UNESCO, fulfilling a requirement of the World Heritage listing. The site management plan was written by Divay Gupta, an Indian specialist in architectural conservation and heritage management; the team that developed it included archeologists, engineers and architects from France, �0A;Belgium, and Cambodia, as well as a former US Park Service senior park planner. ¶5. The establishment of an ICC was the second UNESCO requirement after the inscription of the site in July of 2008. The original text of the document required that the ICC be convened by February of 2010 and that the committee include no more than seven countries. UNESCO also specified that Thailand should be invited to participate. The formation of the ICC has been delayed due to the ongoing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia on the area surrounding the Preah Vihear temple. Another ICC which focuses on the management of the Angkor Wat temple complex has been highly successful and Cambodia and UNESCO seek to model the Preah Vihear version on the Angkor Wat example. ¶6. After the briefing and informal invitation to join the ICC, several Ambassadors inquired about security at the site. DPM Sok An assured the group that any recent violence in the border area has been in isolated areas far from the site of the temple and that increasing numbers of tourists are already visiting the site from the Cambodian side. He advised that he would issue a formal invitation to form the ICC as soon as possible. ¶7. DPM Sok An stated that he had approached the seven countries present at the meeting as they had contributed experts to the team which made formal recommendations on the site or had long histories of collaboration with Cambodia through the Angkor Wat ICC. It is expected that they would provide similar support for a Preah Vihear ICC. ¶8. COMMENT: In several previous discussions about the Preah Vihear ICC with the Ambassdor, DPM Sok An had resisted the idea of inviting Thailand to participate, citing the 2008 "incursion" of Thai troops along the disputed border and pointing to "uncooperative" behavior on the part of the Thai during their participation in the Angkor Wat ICC. However, during this briefing he reiterated many times the government's decision to invite Thailand. Several Ambassadors probed on this point and he appeared resolute. There was considerable enthusiasm on the part of the attendees for participation, although all indicated a need to seek formal instructions once the actual invitations had been issued. END COMMENT. ¶9. ACTION REQUEST: Although a formal request has not yet been prepared, DPM Sok An would like an indication of US willingness to participate in the Preah Vihear ICC. When DPM Sok An has raised this in previous discussions, Ambassador has always responded that the US would probably look favorably on a request to join the Preah PHNOM PENH 00000089 002 OF 002 Vihear ICC as long as Thailand was also invited to join. Post requests guidance on responding to Cambodia's request for our participation in the ICC. RODLEY