Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thailand receives Cambodia's denial of extraditing Thaksin

BANGKOK, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Thailand has already received a copy of an official denial letter from the Cambodian government to extradite ousted former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra to Thailand, Thai Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Vimon Kidchob told Xinhua Wednesday.

Earlier in the morning, Thailand submitted a letter to Cambodia' s government requesting the country to extradite Thaksin to Thailand.

However, the ministry could not explain in details about the official denial from Cambodia, the spokeswoman said.

"Involved legal divisions are now looking at the details of the official denial letter from Cambodia," the spokeswoman said.

Asked for the next movement to be made by Thailand, the spokeswoman said the involved legal divisions will consider the denial letter of Cambodia prior to suggesting for the next movement by Thailand.

In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Wednesday it is not easy to ask Cambodia to extradite Thaksin to Thailand, Thai News Agency reported.

The Thai government has not had any other special means, apart from the diplomatic practice in asking Cambodia to extradite Thaksin.

Meanwhile, the International Police can report only about Thaksin's movement to the Thai government, Suthep said.

The government announced Tuesday that apart from the ASEAN member countries, the International Police together with others in the international community have been asked to closely monitor Thaksin's movement and to arrest him immediately and send Thaksin to Thailand.

Also, Suthep said he is worried about Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's giving interview to media since through media interview Hun Sen has challenged Thailand to close the Thai-Cambodian border.

But, Thailand will not use emotion to make any decision on the Thai-Cambodian border, Suthep said.

Thailand and Cambodia have downgraded their diplomatic relations due to conflict over the appointment of Thaksin as an economic advisor to Cambodia's government on Nov. 4.

A day after the appointment of Thaksin, the Cambodian government announced recall of its ambassador to Thailand in a move to respond to the Thai government's recall of its ambassador to Cambodia.

Thaksin, who arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday, will on Thursday hold a briefing with over 300 Cambodian economics experts at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Hun Sen said earlier.

Thaksin was ousted by the military coup in September 2006, in accusation of corruption, and has been kept in exile since then.

He returned to Thailand in February 2008 to face corruption charges, but later fled into exile again and was convicted in absentia.

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