Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday appealed to Cambodian citizens and armed forces to keep calm as Cambodia and Thailand are scheduled to deliver oral statements to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) next week in the case concerning the hotly-disputed land around the Preah Vihear Temple.

"Even though a handful of Thai extremists have marched to the border near Preah Vihear Temple--Thai government and army has also had difficulty with this group, I'd like to appeal to Cambodian people and armed forces to keep cool, as next week is the time for an oral hearing, not the time for a verdict release," the premier said during the inauguration of new achievements at a Buddhist pagoda in eastern Prey Veng province.

He said the court's verdict will be issued at the end of the year.

The ICJ awarded Preah Vihear Temple to Cambodia on June 15, 1962, but Thailand, in 2008, claimed the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple.

Sporadic armed clashes between the two sides' troops had happened since July 2008 when the UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage Site and the clashes burst out on large scales in February and April 2011 during Thailand's Democrat Party rule.

In April 2011, Cambodia asked the ICJ to interpret the judgment of June 15, 1962 in the case concerning the Preah Vihear Temple.

In July 2011, the court ordered that Cambodia and Thailand must immediately withdraw their military personnel from the court- defined Provisional Demilitarized Zone of 17.3 square kilometers surrounding the temple.

The two countries are scheduled to deliver their oral statements on the dispute to the ICJ in the Netherlands on April 15-19, and the court is expected to issue a decision on who owns the disputed land around the Preah Vihear Temple later this year.

The Preah Vihear Temple is located on the top of a 525-meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains bordering Thailand. It is situated about 500 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.