国际英语新闻：Security Council urges Cambodia, Thailand to establish permanent cease-fire

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council urged Cambodia and Thailand to display maximum restraint and to establish a permanent cease-fire, the Council President of the month, Brazilian Ambassador to the UN Maria Ribeiro Viotti, told reporters here Monday.

The members of the Security Council expressed their great concern about the recent armed clashes, and called on the two sides to display maximum restraint and avoid any action that may aggravate the situation, said Viotti, reading a press statement after a close-door meeting on the border conflict between the two south-eastern Asian countries.

"The members of the Security Council further urged the parties to establish a permanent cease-fire and to implement it fully and resolve the situation peacefully and through effective dialogue," she said.

UN Security Council president of the month and Brazilian Ambassador to the UN Maria Ribeiro Viotti speaks on the recent armed clashes between Cambodia and Thailand at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, Feb. 14, 2011. The UN Security Council urged Cambodia and Thailand to display maximum restraint and to establish a permanent cease-fire, the Council President of the month, Brazilian Ambassador to the UN Maria Ribeiro Viotti, told reporters here Monday.

Viotti said the Security Council expressed support for the active efforts of the Association of South East Asian Nations ( ASEAN) in this matter and encouraged the parties to continue to cooperate with the organization.

She added that the Council welcomed the upcoming meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of ASEAN on Feb. 22.

Armed clashes between Cambodia and Thailand from Feb.4 to Feb.7 had killed at least eight people and injured 67 others. Tens of thousands of villagers nearby the disputed areas had fled their homes.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa who also attended the security council meeting, told reporters it is crystal clear that the issue must be resolved peacefully through dialogue.

"The cease-fire must hold and there must be some kind of modalities and communication system developed to ensure that the cease-fire holds," Natalegawa said.

The border between Thailand and Cambodia has never been completely demarcated. Although the International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the 11th century Preah Vihear Temple itself belonged to Cambodia, the row over the 4.6-sq-km territory around the temple has never been resolved.