Cambodia has officially called on the UN Security Council to take urgent action over its border conflict with Thailand and the major powers are discussing what action to take, diplomats said.
Cambodia and Thailand have written to the Security Council on the hostilities around an ancient temple that have claimed at least seven lives and forced thousands to flee their homes, diplomats said.
Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the Brazilian ambassador who is president of the Security Council for February, said envoys from the 15 nations on the council were holding consultations on the troubles.
Talks were held during closed consultations on Monday.
Cambodia sent two letters to the Security Council on the conflict at the weekend, one of which demanded "urgent" action, said a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has called for UN troops to be sent to set up a buffer zone on the contested border. It was not clear however if this demand was put in the Cambodian letters.
Thailand's has also written twice, with a letter from Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva handed over Monday. Thailand has called for a bilateral solution to the dispute and the letter accused Cambodia of using "internationalization" of the conflict, the diplomat said.
The Cambodian-Thai border dispute was also brought before the Security Council after clashes in October 2008.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who on Sunday called for a "cessation of hostilities", offered last year to help the two sides set up talks to resolve the dispute.
Ban is "consulting with senior advisers" on the trouble, his spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.
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