Phnom Penh  - Cambodia ratcheted up the war of words over Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with an announcement Friday that it would not permit Thaksin's extradition in the event he comes to Cambodia.

The Council of Ministers said in a statement that Cambodia would not extradite Thaksin even if the Thai government requested it.

It said Cambodia would invoke Article 3 of the 1991 extradition agreement between the two nations, explaining that the article permits one side to refuse an extradition request if it deems the offence on which the request is based to be politically motivated.

"Allowing H. E. Thaksin to stay in Cambodia is reflecting the virtuous behaviour of Prime Minister Hun Sen, [who is] Thaksin's long-time friend," it said, adding that this "virtuous attitude" was not a matter of interfering in Thailand's internal politics.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan told the German Press Agency dpa that Thaksin was welcome to come to Cambodia, but said he did not know whether he would in fact visit.

"We stipulate that Cambodia has a right to offer Thaksin to visit Cambodia, and we have no obligation to send him back to Thailand," he said on Friday.

Phay Siphan would not be drawn on whether the statement means Cambodia believes the case against Thaksin was politically motivated, despite the clear implication to that effect in the statement.

"Politically motivated or not politically motivated - that's another issue," he said.

The words mark the latest round in an ongoing verbal joust between Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva. Thailand was incensed earlier this week when Hun Sen reportedly offered a home in Cambodia to Thaksin, who is living in self-imposed exile to avoid a two-year jail term at home for abuse of power.

Late on Thursday Cambodia said Hun Sen had been misquoted by the media, but by that time Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban had warned that Thaksin risked being extradited back to Thailand if he took up Hun Sen's offer.

The spat erupted in the run-up to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Thailand, which began Friday. Both Cambodia and Thailand are members of the ten-nation regional body.

Hun Sen missed the opening ceremony as he had been hosting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on his official visit to Cambodia. However, Phay Siphan said Hun Sen had left for the summit and would attend.

About 18,000 soldiers and police have been deployed to protect the 16 leaders attending from protestors loyal to the populist Thaksin. A summit in April had to be cancelled when pro-Thaksin demonstrators broke into the venue.

Thaksin, overthrown in a bloodless military coup in September 2006, is loathed by much of the Thai elite and middle class, but his populist economic policies have given him a big following among the poor. His critics have accused him of seeking to become an authoritarian leader, a label often also applied to Hun Sen.

Hun Sen praised Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, as a "great friend" and a victim of unfair politics in comments at a meeting with veteran Thai politician and former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyuth, a senior member of Thaksin's Puea Thai Party. (dpa)