PHNOM PENH - Cambodian Prime Miniser Hun Sen on Monday firmly rejected the suggestion put forward by Thai military attache to hold Cambodia and Thai border meeting in his country instead of in Indonesia.

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The prime minister said last week that Thai military attache has written a letter to Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh, asking for the 8th Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) meeting to be hold in Cambodia or Thailand instead of in Bogor in Indonesia on April 7-8 with the presence of Indonesia.

"I would like to announce firmly that there will be no any meeting in Cambodia or Thailand over the border conflict, it must be done in the third country," he said during a graduation ceremony of 2,562 students at the National Technical Training Institute.

"I won't join with ...as Indonesia, the ASEAN chair, was tasked by the United Nations Security Council to mediate the issue,  so it will be no way that Cambodia will hold meetings with Thailand bilaterally," he added.

"Cambodia has prepared itself already for the meetings in Bogor, despite Thai parliament has not ratified the last three minutes of the JBC," he added. "Thailand goes or not, it's Thai internal issues."

Moreover, Hun Sen said that Cambodia will raise its border conflict with Thailand over the areas near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on May 7-8, if Thailand denies the talks with Cambodia with Indonesia's mediation.

"If the meetings of JBC or GBC in Bogor cannot be occurred or cannot resolve the issue, I will order (Foreign Minister) Hor Namhong to prepare documents for the summit of ASEAN on May 7-8, I can raise the border conflict in the summit or in the retreat meeting," he said.

Cambodia and Thailand have had border conflict just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008. Thailand claims the ownership of 1. 8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrub next to the temple. The two sides have since stepped up military build-up along the border, and periodic clashes between Cambodian and Thai soldiers have resulted in the deaths of troops on both sides.

The latest clashes on Feb 4-7 unleashed a barrage of artillery shells on both sides of the border, which had killed and injured many people of both sides, and caused tens of thousands of the two countries' villagers nearby the disputed areas to escape.

"I'd like to appeal to all my armed forces to exercise utmost restraints and hope that from now until the upcoming Khmer New Year, there will be no any armed clashes," Hun Sen said.