Phnom Penh - Cambodia's Defence Ministry announced it would fly military attaches from China, the United States and other countries yet to be named to the Preah Vihear temple complex to view a border dispute first hand, local television announced Saturday.

The Khmer-language private television station CTN made the announcement in a lunchtime bulletin, adding that the tour of the temple by the international delegation would take place imminently and would be led by Cambodian armed forces chief Sao Sokha.

Although private, CTN is owned by powerful businessman Kith Meng and is viewed as close to the government.

Thailand has maintained the temple is in a disputed no man's land and that a Thai presence in the area was not breaching Cambodian sovereignty. Cambodia disagreed and asked for the tour by international observers.

Meanwhile CTN announced Thai troops had withdrawn from a pagoda a few hundred metres from Preah Vihear and had camped in nearby jungle.

Tensions have been running high on the border since Cambodia asked UNESCO to list the temple as a World Heritage site despite there being a dispute over a
4.6-kilometre swath of land nearby.

UNESCO obliged earlier this month, but tensions spilled over Tuesday when Cambodia briefly detained then released three Thais it said had illegally crossed the border, prompting first dozens, and then hundreds of Thai troops to follow in an alleged incursion.

On Friday, Thailand warned the situation was deteriorating but Cambodia has said it will not be intimidated.

"I would rather lose my life than lose my country's territory," veteran parliamentarian Cheam Yeap of the ruling Cambodian People's Party said regarding the temple Friday. (dpa)