Thailand, Cambodia begin ceasefire talks

Thailand and Cambodia’s leaders opened peace talks Monday in Malaysia, seeking a ceasefire after five days of combat along their jungle-clad frontier that has killed at least 35 people.

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More than 200,000 people have fled as the two sides fired artillery, rockets and guns in a battle over the long-disputed area, which is home to a smattering of ancient temples.

The flareup is the deadliest since violence raged from 2008-2011 over the territory, which is claimed by both sides because of a vague demarcation made by Cambodia’s French colonial administrators in 1907.

Hours ahead of the talks, an AFP journalist in the Cambodian city of Samraong -- 17 kilometers (10 miles) from the fraught frontier -- reported hearing a steady drumbeat of up to 10 blasts a minute.

US President Donald Trump -- who both nations are courting for trade deals to avert the threat of eye-watering tariffs -- intervened over the weekend, and said both sides had agreed to “quickly work out” a truce.

Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet began their talks in the administrative capital Putrajaya around 3:15pm (0715 GMT).

They met at the residence of Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, serving chair of the ASEAN bloc of which Thailand and Cambodia are both members, who earlier told media he would focus on an “immediate ceasefire”.