The UN's highest court has awarded Cambodia the disputed territory surrounding the Preah Vihear temple which lies on the border to Thailand. The court has also told Thailand to withdraw its troops from the area.
Thailand must withdraw all military and police forces from the area surrounding a 900-year-old Hindu temple on the far side of its border with Cambodia, world court judges said on Monday in a ruling that could exacerbate tensions between the two countries.
The judges ruled that the promontory on which the Preah Vihear temple sits was part of Cambodia. The court awarded the temple itself to Cambodia in a 1962 judgement, but Thailand had maintained that ownership of the rest of the hilltop had not been settled.
"The court unanimously declares that Cambodia has sovereignty over the whole of the territory of the promontory of Preah Vihear," said Peter Tomka, president of the International Court of Justice.
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