Cambodia wants 1,400-year-old temple listed as world heritage site

Phnom Penh, March 16 (Xinhua) Cambodia will ask the UN to list the 1,400-year-old Sambo Prey Kuk temple as a world heritage site, the Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper reported Monday.

Sambo Prey Kuk temple, which was built from 615 AD to 650 AD, is located in the Kompong Thom province.

'We are preparing the proposal for UN to register the temple, which was built during the rule of Khmer King Isanverman I, with the Committee of World Heritage,' the newspaper quoted Som Sokhun, secretary of state at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, as saying.

The government has to organise a master plan for development and conservation of the temple, he said.

Sambo Prey Kuk temple was even older than the world-renowned Angkor Wat in Siem Reap province, he said.

It was built with clay, but not stones, with which the Angkor Wat was constructed, he said.

The Sambo Prey Kuk temple is expected to become a place for people to study and research Khmer culture, construction, arts and history, he added.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has already listed the Angkor Wat and the Preah Vihear temple as world heritage sites.