Cambodians hold general election

Phnom Penh: Polling stations have closed after a general election in Cambodia on Sunday that is widely expected to give another five years in power to former Khmer Rouge soldier Hun Sen.

Voting appeared to run without major incident although the opposition Sam Rainsy party complained that thousands of people in the capital were left off voter lists.

Hun Sen has been prime minister for the last 23 years; with his standing boosted by a nationalist spat with Thailand over a 900-year-old temple on the Preah Vihear ruins, which sit on an escarpment separating Cambodia and Thailand.

"The result is not in doubt," said Kek Galabru, head of Phnom Penh-based human rights group LICADHO, adding that the CPP may win an outright majority in the 123-seat parliament.

The CPP is so confident of victory it has scheduled talks over Preah Vihear with Thailand's foreign minister in the tourist town of Siem Reap on Monday.

The meeting is not expected to make major headway in resolving the temple dispute, which is mainly over 4.6 square kilometres of scrubland near the temple.

The ruins themselves are claimed by both countries but were awarded to Cambodia in 1962 by the International Court of Justice, a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since.