Trump heaps praises on Anwar over role in Thai-Cambodia peace deal

Praises continued to pour in for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for his job well done in mediating peace between Cambodia and Thailand, which saw the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord inked on Oct 26.

This time, the praise came directly from US President Donald Trump, who told the Apec CEO Summit in Korea that Malaysia was “fantastic” in assisting in the signing of the peace deal at the sidelines of the 47th Asean Summit recently.

He also recounts the back-and-forth private conversations he had with the two countries' leaders on the peace deal, which saw the agreement to peace with the help of Malaysia.

“Malaysia was like a mediator (which) we used as a beautiful facility, because it was too 'hot' and I don’t mean hot weather-wise… It was too hot with bullets flying all over the place, and Malaysia was fantastic.

“They helped implement (the peace deal) and the Prime Minister (Anwar) was a great, great guy. We signed the deal (on Oct 26) and the two people (Cambodia and Thailand leaders) came in, they were like best friends.

“It was a beautiful thing. We saved, probably, millions of lives. They had a tempestuous relationship for (about) 500 years. I said that’s a long time (and) we hope it's going to be everlasting peace.”

Thailand and Cambodia had been in dispute over their 817km border, where the conflict had escalated into a military confrontation on July 24.

Four days later, Anwar hosted a high-stakes meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and then acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai in Putrajaya to defuse the ongoing tensions at that time.

A ceasefire deal was reached and was immediately effective at midnight on the same day.

The Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord formalised the deal, with Trump and Anwar’s signatures as witnesses, where the latter had inked the deal in his capacity as the Asean chair.

The deal also formalises the Asean Observer Team's establishment to monitor compliance and prevent renewed clashes in the border zones.

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