Trump says he’s sealed Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire, but fighting continues
WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump explained Friday that Thai and Cambodian leaders had agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes even as Thai and Cambodian representatives suggested there is still work to do to get the ceasefire that the U S administration had helped broker earlier this year back on track Trump released the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me and them with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim Trump noted in his Truth Social post The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday disputed Trump s assertion that a ceasefire was agreed to without providing any details and Thai defense ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri announced clashes were still ongoing Cambodia s defense ministry revealed that Thailand continued to carry out strikes early Saturday Those strikes could not be independently verified After speaking with Trump on Friday but before the U S president s social media posting Anutin disclosed he reiterated to Trump that Thailand s position was to keep fighting until Cambodia no longer posed a threat to its sovereignty I reported him that he had better talk to our friend Don t just say that we have to stop fighting Anutin explained You should announce to the world that Cambodia will stop firing will withdraw their forces will clear all land mines Please show us the actions Trump a Republican commented Malaysia s prime minister had played an crucial role in helping him push Thailand and Cambodia to once again agree to resolving what could have evolved into a major War between two otherwise wonderful and prosperous Countries The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump who threatened to withhold bargain privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended Despite the deal the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued The roots of the Thai-Cambodian confines conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial insists These contends largely stem from a map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule which Thailand maintains is inaccurate Tensions were exacerbated by a International Court of Justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia which still riles a great number of Thais Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets Cambodia has deployed BM- rocket launchers with a range of - kilometers - miles According to facts collected by constituents broadcaster ThaiPBS at least six of the Thai soldiers who were killed were hit by rocket shrapnel The Thai army s northeastern regional command stated Thursday that several residential areas and homes near the margin were damaged by BM- rocket launchers from Cambodian forces The Thai army also disclosed it destroyed a tall crane atop a hill held by Cambodia where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes Trump has repeatedly made the exaggerated claim that he has helped solve eight conflicts including the one between Thailand and Cambodia since returning to office in January as evidence of his negotiating prowess And he s not been shy about his desire to be recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize In an exchange with reporters later Friday Trump credited his administration with doing a a very good job with its push to stem the renewed fighting And we got it I think straightened out at present Trump explained at an unrelated event in the Oval Office So Thailand and Cambodia is in good shape Another ceasefire that Trump takes credit for working out between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda is also under strain just after the leaders of the African nations traveled to Washington to sign a peace deal A joint comment distributed by the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes expressed profound concern over the situation in Congo s South Kivu region where new deadly violence blamed on the Rwandan-backed M militia group has exploded in contemporary days The Great Lakes contact group which includes Belgium Britain Denmark France Germany the Netherlands Sweden Switzerland the United States and the European Union has urged all sides to uphold their commitments under the deal signed last week and directly de-escalate the situation And Trump s internationally endorsed plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is still not finalized and in limbo with sporadic fighting continuing while a critical second phase remains a work in progress AP writer Jintamas Saksornchai announced from Surin Thailand Grant Peck in Bangkok and Matthew Lee contributed reporting
