Awwal 05, 1432 H/Feb 08, 2011, SPA -- UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said Tuesday she will send a mission to visit the disputed Preah Vihear temple along the border between Cambodia and Thailand, where fighting has led to deaths and damage to the site in recent days. "I intend to send a mission to the area as soon as possible to assess the state of the temple," she said in Paris, where the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization maintains its world headquarters. The temple has been designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO, but it had also created a dispute between the two Asian countries. Bokova called on Thailand and Cambodia to remain calm and restrained. "This requires a collective effort that must be undertaken in a spirit of consultation and dialogue," dpa cited Bokova as saying. "Heritage should unite people and serve as an instrument of dialogue and mutual understanding and not of conflict." The 11th-century Hindu temple, perched on a cliff in the Dangrek mountain range that vaguely defines the border, has been a bone of contention for the past five decades.
