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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen launched an 'aggressive' attack on Thailand over a border dispute during the first session of a summit of South-east Asian leaders on Saturday, a senior official said. -- PHOTO: AP JAKARTA - CAMBODIAN Prime Minister Hun Sen launched an 'aggressive' attack on Thailand over a border dispute during the first session of a summit of South-east Asian leaders on Saturday, a senior official said. Senior officials said Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) leaders were taken aback at the unscheduled salvo across the meeting table at the opening of the two-day summit in Jakarta. The trade and economy-focused summit was at risk of being hijacked by tensions over the bloody military conflict which has killed 85 people and temporarily displaced 85,000 in months of clashes. An Asian foreign minister, who did not want to be named, said Hun Sen was 'quite aggressive' when he raised the issue during the closed-door session. Thai government spokesman Mr Panitan Wattanayagorn confirmed that Hun Sen raised the dispute, which was not on the formal agenda, to the 'surprise' of other leaders. Mr Panitan said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was 'disappointed' and rebutted Hun Sen's allegations that Thai troops were attacking Cambodian territory. 'He said he was very disappointed to hear Cambodia accusing Thailand of using force against Cambodia. In fact we have not. In fact we have been helping Cambodia through difficult times,' the spokesman said. 'Despite our good intentions, yes, he (Abhisit) was disappointed that Prime Minister Hun Sen misunderstood our intention.' The dispute centres on a small area around an 11th-century Khmer temple which belongs to Cambodia under a 1962 World Court ruling. -- AFP, May 7, 2011
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