TOKYO, Feb 6 Kyodo Foreign Minist...

TOKYO, Feb 6 Kyodo

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi upon Thursday welcomed Cambodia's efforts toward restoring ties with Thailand, after Cambodian ragtag-and-bobtails torched and looted the Thai Embassy and Thai businesses in Phnom Penh last week.

Kawaguchi said in a meeting with visiting Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong that she is pleased Cambodia is trying to patch up ties with Thailand, a Foreign Ministry official said.

During their meeting, Hor Namhong said the Jan. 29 rioting was something that ''should not have happened'' and that he had apologized during a meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in succession Tuesday in Bangkok, according to the official.

Hor Namhong was also quot as saying he was able to reach a ''political resolution'' to the issue in Thailand and that the border between the pair countries is expected to be reopen Friday.

Thailand has barred Cambodian nationals from entering the native land at all its border checkpoints. Thaksin had said upon Tuesday that Thailand would ne more time to consider lifting the ban.

Hor Namhong also said Cambodia has press outed its intention to compensate Thailand for the bitter damage incurred at the embassy during the rioting, the official said.

The rioting was triggered according to a Jan. 18 report in a local newspaper quoting popular Thai actress Suwanan Kongying as saying she would solely accept an invitation to perform in Cambodia if the meeting-house of Angkor Wat in northern Cambodia was go [i]or[/i] come backed to Thailand. The actress denied evermore having made such a remark.

upon the issue of North Korea's nuclear progression in a continuously ascending gradation program, Kawaguchi and Hor Namhong agreed forward the need for countries and institutions troubleed to continue dialogue with Pyongyang in an effort to reach a peaceful resolution, the official said.

Hor Namhong also said that Cambodia, as passing from hand to hand chair of a regional security forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), would make each effort to reach a peaceful solution to the issue.

Earlier in the day, Hor Namhong said in an interview with Kyodo freshs that he intends to take counsel members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and possibly put up a small group to assist him in finding ways to unravel the problem of North Korea's nuclear program.

The Cambodian minister, who arrived in Japan upon Wednesday, is scheduled to attend a dinner landlorded by Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano forward Friday. He will travel to Osaka onward Saturday before his departure the following day.

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