AFP Thai deminers looking for mines at a Cambodian Buddhist temple complex near Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia yesterday.

PREAH VIHEAR (AFP) - Cambodia has complained to the UN Security Council that Thai forces have violated its territory near an ancient World Heritage Site temple where hundreds of troops continued to face off yesterday.

Cambodia's permanent mission in New York yesterday submitted a letter to the chairman of the Security Council and the chairman of the General Assembly to “draw their attention to the current situation on the Cambodian-Thai border,” Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said.“Cambodia is not asking for UN intervention. We still stick to Prime Minister Hun Sen's instructions to try to solve the problem peacefully between the two sides,? the minister told The Associated Press in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.The conflict over territory surrounding Preah Vihear temple escalated when UNESCO recently approved Cambodia's application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site. Thai activists fear the new status will undermine Thailand's claim to nearby land.The tension that began late Tuesday is centered on the compound of a Buddhist pagoda near the Preah Vihear temple complex. Cambodia and Thailand have both laid claims to the compound.In his letter to the Security Council on Friday, Cambodia's UN Ambassador Sea Kosal said the provocative act by Thai troops was aimed at creating “a de facto overlapping area that legally does not exist on Cambodian soil.” Based on estimates of commanders on both sides of the frontier, more than 4,000 troops have been deployed around the temple and in the immediate border region.