Cultural crimes?

There's plenty of tough talk but the bullets have stopped at least for now. Cambodia claims that Thailand damaged Preah Vihear intentionally.

Cambodia has lodged a complaint with the United Nations accusing Thai troops of damaging the ancient Preah Vihear temple during a border shootout earlier this month, an official said yesterday. Phay Siphan, spokesman for Cambodia's Council of Ministers, said a staircase and a sculpture at the ruins were damaged by rocket fire.

A complaint was filed with the UN cultural body Unesco a few days after the firefight erupted on Oct 15 near Preah Vihear, a World Heritage Site at the centre of the long-running territorial dispute.

''Preah Vihear temple was intentionally damaged by Thai troops, because we found the remnants of grenades ... near the temple and there were no Cambodian soldiers stationed nearby,'' Phay Siphan said.

''The Preah Vihear authority has sent pictures of the damage to Unesco.''

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday denied Thai soldiers had damaged the 11th-century Khmer temple.

Intent? That's difficult to prove. If true it is a crime against humanity. Sounds more like sabre-rattling to me though.

ETA Thailand has its own version

A staircase and a sculpture of the mythical Naga creature were hit by rocket fire at the 11th-century Khmer ruins, he said.

However, Thai ambassador to Paris Thana Duangrat reported to the ministry that there was no record of a Cambodian complaint submitted to Unesco.

"We have evidence proving Cambodia fired the rockets from Preah Vihear Temple at Thai troops," said foreign ministry spokesperson Tharit Charungvat.

The ministry has checked the facts with the Second Army Area, which confirmed that on 15 Oct, Thai soldiers, fired upon by Cambodian troops in the vicinity of Pha Mor I Daeng, used only rifles in their defence, he said.

I wonder how long the truth will take.