Phnom Penh, (UNI) Cambodia has nominated US president Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize after the US leader threatened to halt trade deals unless the South-east Asian nation agreed to a ceasefire with Thailand in a recent armed conflict.
A letter from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet today addressed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee said he wished to nominate Trump “in recognition of his historic contributions in advancing world peace”.
Cambodia and Thailand saw five days of hostilities that killed at least 43 people last month as a territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border combat, media reports said.
More than 300,000 were displaced by the conflict that started with small arms fire and quickly escalated into heavy artillery and rocket fire, then Thailand’s deployment hours later of an F-16 fighter jet for air strikes.
A truce began last week after phone calls from Trump, as well as mediation from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim – chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc – and a delegation of Chinese negotiators, Aljazeera reported.
“Trump’s extraordinary statesmanship – marked by his commitment to resolving conflicts and preventing catastrophic wars through visionary and innovative diplomacy – was most recently demonstrated by his decisive role in brokering an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand,” Hun Manet’s letter said.
It was a July 26 call by Trump to the leaders of both Thailand and Cambodia that broke the deadlock in efforts to end some of the heaviest fighting between the neighbours in recent history, Reuters has reported. That led to a ceasefire negotiated in Malaysia on July 28.
“This timely intervention, which averted a potentially devastating conflict, was vital in preventing great loss of lives and paved the way towards the restoration of peace.”
The nomination had been expected after Cambodia’s deputy prime minister last week announced the plan, while thanking Trump for a tariff of 19 percent on Cambodian imports by the United States – sharply reduced from the previously threatened 49 percent that he said would have decimated its vital garment manufacturing sector.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee does not publish the list of nominees for the prize.
However, a list of candidates is set by January 31, and the announcement is generally made the following October.
Tens of thousands of people can offer a nomination to the Nobel committee, including lawmakers, ministers, certain university professors, former laureates and members of the committee themselves.
Mentioning the prestigious award has become a sign of diplomatic goodwill for some foreign leaders towards Trump, who has touted his deal-making credentials as a broker of global peace.
