Cambodia welcome U.S. Military Aid, rejects conditions

Cambodia welcomes the United States' decision to award military aid to the kingdom, but rejects any conditions attached to it, the Cambodian Daily reported on Thursday, quoting an official.

"We need assistance without strings attached. If it had strings attached, we would not accept it," Chum Sambath, undersecretary of state for Cambodian Ministry of Defense, was quoted as saying.

Pang Savan, director of the Defense Ministry's department of international relations, said that the U.S. has decided to fund the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) directly because it does not belong to any political party.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle told the paper that some 670, 000 U.S. dollars committed in the fiscal year of 2006 by the U.S. government will be channeled to RCAF to purchase articles such as medical and communication equipment as well as protective gear for border security units.

Another 300,000 U.S. dollars will be used for trucks, spare parts and training, he said.

For the current fiscal year, U.S. aid for RCAF will reach 475, 000 U.S. dollars, he added.

RCAF became eligible for direct U.S. funding after Cambodia agreed not to send U.S. nationals to the International Criminal Court and the United States lifted Cambodia's ranking in its anti- human trafficking report in June, according to Daigle.

Source: Xinhua .