Bangkok - The United Nations Security Council will decide this week whether or not it will hold an emergency session to discuss an escalating border spat between Thailand and Cambodia over an ancient Hindu temple, a senior Thai diplomat confirmed Wednesday.

On Monday Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, claiming he feared an "imminent state of war," appealed to the 15-member UN Security Council to intervene in the Thai-Cambodian dispute over conflicting claims to territory adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple, perched on a cliff that partly defines the two neighbouring countries' common border.

Singapore - Foreign ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) met Tuesday to discuss a request by Cambodia to mediate in its border row with Thailand.

ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said the ministers of the 10-country grouping met on the sidelines of its annual meetings to discuss the tension among its two members.

"It's unfortunate that we have to deal with the issues of two neighbours but we cannot control the situation," he said. "Whether or not the situation is dangerous, that has to be assessed."

A meeting on Monday between a joint border committee of Cambodia and Thailand did not produce satisfactory results, prompting Phnom Penh to seek the help of ASEAN in resolving the issue.

Kantharalak (Thailand), July 21: Hundreds of Thai and Cambodian soldiers remained locked in a tense standoff at the ruins of an ancient Hindu temple here for a sixth straight day on Sunday, in a modern-day echo of the age-old clash of empires across Indochina.

The contentious 4.6-square-kilometre zone is in Si Sa Ket province, to the west of the ancient temple that Cambodia has successfully listed as a World Heritage site.

The centre of the dispute is the makeshift Wat Viharn temple that Cambodia built in the disputed area in 2001, despite opposition from Thailand.

Soldiers from both sides remain there on condition that all of them must be unarmed, the New York Times reported.

Aranyaprathet, Thailand - Thailand and Cambodia Monday kicked off a joint meeting aimed at defusing an escalating row over an ancient Hindu temple that turned into a tense military standoff on the Thai-Cambodian border. 

Thai Supreme Commander Boonsrang Niempradit and Cambodian Defence Minister Teah Banh met at the Indochina Hotel in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo province, 270 kilometres east of Bangkok, to commence talks on the Preah Vihear temple controversy. 

Members of the General Border Committee (GBC), set up several years ago to handle border issues, will join them later. A joint press conference was planned at mid-day. 

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 bor

Bangkok - Thailand and Cambodia will hold an urgent meeting next week to defuse a row over joint claims on an ancient Hindu temple compound that has drawn hundreds of troops to both sides of the bo