Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Hor Namhong speaks to the media after meeting with Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh October 13, 2008.

Thai soldiers will not leave a disputed stretch of the border with Cambodia despite an ultimatum from Phnom Penh for them to withdraw by midday on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat said.

“We are in our homeland. How can they expect us to leave our home?” he said in reply to a question from a reporter.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday the Thai troops should leave within 24 hours or his forces would turn the area into a “death zone.”

Source: Reuters