Thai military denies using toxic gas in the battle of Cambodian border

April 23, 2011, 11: 38 am EDT by Daniel Ten Kate

April 24 (Bloomberg) - Thailand, denied the accusations that his soldiers have used toxic gas against Cambodian troops in the bloodiest fighting along the disputed border since tensions broke out three years ago.

Battles which began April 22 killed five Thai and six Cambodian, according to army officials of, and reports, ending two months of peace since the United Nations Security Council urged a permanent ceasefire on February 14 of press. Used Thai soldiers "guns heavy loading of the toxic gas" fighting yesterday, Ministry of defence of Cambodia said in a statement. "Cambodians are really incredible for a story like that," Veerachon Sukondhadhpatipak, Deputy spokesman of the Thai army, said by telephone from Bangkok. "" " They still make stories publish us poorly. "The resumption of the fighting at the time when the Prime Minister of Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva is preparing to call an election in early May. The Thailand member is causing clashes raise his popularity in the event where he stages an another coup, the Cambodian Government Phay Siphan said by telephone from Phnom Penh, the capital. "The Thai military to move against us so they can say they are protecting Thai land and earn the credibility of their people,"he says. "We are a small country and we cannot afford to take Thai land." We need peace to build our country. "Southeast Asian neighbors have blamed each other for cause the battles which took place several hundred kilometres west of border clashes in February near the temple of Preah Vihear a world heritage site. Ministry of defence of Cambodia, said Thai troops were aimed to support the temples in dispute, while said Abhisit Thailand would not invade its neighbours and reprisal of the Cambodian attack. "International rules"our movements are consistent with international rules", Abhisit said today in a weekly televised speech. "In our retaliation, we attack military points only.". Our retaliation will be appropriate with Cambodian attacks. "Five Thai soldiers died in the two days of fighting, said Veerachon. Fighting also killed six Cambodian soldiers, Xinhua Chinese news agency reported, citing Suos Sothea, a commander of a unit of artillery on the border.Clashes resume tensions along the border escalated in 2008 after the Thailand opposed efforts in Cambodia to list temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site. Fighting in February was at least 10 dead and 30 000 people travel.The Thailand refused to accept observers from the border of the Indonesia, which holds the rotating Presidency of the 10 Association members of Southeast Asia Nations.International Arena "the shock of the latter is another attempt by Cambodia to raise bilateral dispute on the international scene."said today accused Abhisit.Cambodge Thailand of the use of cluster bombs during the fighting in February, a charge confirmed by established the United Kingdom Cluster Munition Coalition, which grows to an international ban on the weapons these munitions scatter over a large area to the detonation. Cambodia and the Thailand are not among the 108 countries which have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions.In 1962, the International Court of Justice decided in a vote of 9-3 that Cambodia had the sovereignty of Preah Vihear. He did not rule on the lands surrounding the temple, and the two countries have not yet reconciled 10,422 miles square (26,993 square kilometres) waters contested in the Gulf of Thailand which can contain oil and gas reserves.264 Billion in the Thailand economy is more than 26 times the size of Cambodia. The Cambodian army spent $ 191 million in 2009, compared with 4.9 billion for the military in Thailand, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

-With the help of Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok. Editors: Paul Tighe, Anand Krishnamoorthy

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok to dtenkate@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at the ptighe@bloomberg.net

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Disappearing desert: guarded border carried out eco-system

The heavily guarded border between Egypt and Israel has set in motion, an accidental experiment on the health of the desert ecosystem. The region is symbolic of endangered deserts all over the world. In all types of environments, niches, species is overlooked human civilization and homogenize habitats.

On the Egyptian side of the Israeli border in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip speed armed soldiers together barbed wire fences, are three layers of Dick in some places, while Israeli soldiers of their own towers on the other hand look.

The goal of this high is border keep away intruders. But the barriers have started an accidental experiment on the ability of ancient desert survival difficult political times. And so far, things look not good for the desert and his creatures.

Thanks to an any line in the sand dunes Israel start crust with green algae on the hard sand and make crispy. Egypt's dunes, on the other hand remain soft, yellow and rippled-- especially because nomadic Bedouin still may graze their sheep and goats there.

The contrast is so strong that in satellite images, the sharp yellow green line of the most visible border in the world from above, said Yaron Ziv, a landscape ecologist at Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Now that the crust is slowly Israeli Negev desert, Ziv start colleagues and a surprising diversity of life in the area to document. You have put together a list of the gerbils, snakes, beetles and other animals, that lives only in this corner of the world, of which are some new to science. And they find that the crusts biodiversity are a major threat to the region.

Since their work further, apply their results behind this dusty Middle Eastern border. Deserts in the world faced threats. And although these landscapes barren untried eye a wide range of habitats, the species see tend to desert port depend, have developed.

"You go to the western Negev, and you see that the most falls it under the sand," said Ziv. "You look at and say this is very boring, such as kindergarten sand boxes." But one thing that we have found that these environments are very heterogeneous. "There are many Sands from different eras, and there are very different and unique habitats."

Ziv's research is complicated by a strong military presence and much bureaucracy in Israel. On a recent visit to his study site in a newly declared protected area he stood up on a stormy sand dunes as the Sun disappeared, and described the challenges. Overhead flew military jets. Army trucks tailed jeep on a single-track stretch of sand below.

He said "We in a nature reserve, which is also a firing zone". "It is a very complex situation." See you this gray hair? We as ecologists have a hard time. "It is almost an impossible mission."

Negev, which covers 60 percent of the Israel, gets on average between 20 millimeters (less than an inch) and (11 inch) 280 mm of rain per year, depending on the location. The desert border occurs where a this amount of precipitation is greater than. And the eastern boundary of the dead sea fault which begins also the Jordan is defined.

But in the West, the Negev, it shares same sand and same atmosphere with Egypt. And up to before recently Bedouin roamed free in both countries. Because trudging herds through the sand and plants willow, hold soft dunes. Winds further and new design.

This is still at Egyptian sand. But a raid against the grazing in Israel, enabled drought, along with more than a decade the plant-killing to the algae take about 7% of the Negev in the last 30 years. Crusts stabilize dunes and, according to growing evidence that threaten the region of nine species, 15 snake species, and much other creatures, including Gazelles, wild asses, and insects.

While document crusting on biodiversity in the Negev are Ziv's group races to the effects of the dune drying it strategies for the sands active again make, including ATVs, the dunes to test.

This type of management approaches said the only way, the Negev, along with many other endangered environments around the world can Professor of ecology and environmental biology at the University of Arizona in Tucson Michael Rosenzweig.

"We as a civilization, which has expressed for 2,000 years, the trend is to homogenize the country and it", said he, as an example, where American perennial a perennial lawn. "We pay no attention to the needs of other species." "We welcome the fact, that looks good to us necessarily suitable for all kinds of appearance not."

Rosenzweig, reminds himself touring Negev 1978 looking to research plots. One night, he went to sleep with a plan to go to Gaza the next morning. But when he awoke, the street under five feet of shifting sand had disappeared. He had to turn around and go the other way. With Israel's current crust formation problems, this is a scenario which would now never happen.

And similar types of rapid environment shift in places far beyond the Middle East.

"The crusts are a small part of the whole story", Rosenzweig said. "It's like the trigger of a gun." "Use of this lever to get to the big problems."

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