Cambodian court charges suspected mastermind of bomb plots with terrorism

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Phnom Penh Municipal Court here on Monday charged Sam Ek, the suspected mastermind of two foiled bomb plots in the city, with conducting terrorism acts and illegal recruitment of armed people.

The court will make further investigation and Ek will receive his sentence in around two weeks.

Cambodian police arrested the 48-year-old man and his three subordinates on Jan. 7 in Banteay Meanchey province.

Ek had confessed to police that he produced and laid explosive devices near the Ministry of National Defense and the state-run TV3 Station on Jan. 2, 2009, and also did the same thing near the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument in 2007.

On both occasions, specialists detonated the bombs, without causing any damage and casualty.

In addition, Ek had created his anarchic and illegal army with tiger head as its logo and carried out some anti-government activities in Modulkiri and Koh Kong provinces in the past years, according to the police.

The suspect was a former soldier and also expert of using chemical substances to make explosive devices.
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Cambodian premier says he will attend ASEAN summit

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's prime minister will attend next month's summit of the Association of Sout East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in neighboring Thailand despite hinting last week he would boycott the meeting, media reports said Monday.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week that attending this year's series of ASEAN meetings would be too costly and time consuming, but Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told The Phnom Penh Post newspaper that the premier definitely would attend.

'I would like to confirm that Prime Minister Hun Sen will attend the ASEAN meeting in Hua Hin, Thailand, from February 27 to 28 and March 1,' Hor Namhong said.

The meeting was originally scheduled for mid-December 2008 but was postponed and relocated due to ongoing domestic political turmoil in the Thai capital, Bangkok.

Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have been simmering since July last year when a border dispute at an ancient Hindu temple erupted into a brief military skirmish.. Read more!

This Hyphenated Life / 30 years after revolution, Cambodia is blossoming with tikkun olam

I recently returned from spending Hanukah in Cambodia, a place so remote that even Chabad has not yet ventured there.

How can a country known for man at his very worst - genocide, land mines, sex trade, acid throwing etc. - be a source of hope and inspiration?

Looking back at my whirlwind trip last month, which included a meeting with the country's young and personable king, as well as Khmer Rouge survivors, former street children and even local Muslims, an answer begins to emerge.
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Amidst the squalor and heart-wrenching beggars (Cambodia is still one of the poorest countries in Asia), Phnom Penh is bustling with throngs of smiling people - often three and four on one moped.

It's especially remarkable that a city which had all its residents forcibly evacuated to the country side by the world's most radical communist regime in the mid 70s, is now home to an uptick in foreign trade and investment, a real estate boom, gentrified French colonial buildings with hip new restaurants, and even a recent glowing profile in the travel section of the New York Times.

While veteran western visitors barely recognize the place, from my newbie perspective, Phnom Penh has retained its indigenous charm and has not yet been overrun by crass commercialism. A sign that reads 'KFC coming soon' is a warning that?s about to change.

In the meantime, speaking of signs, you have to look hard to find any outward evidence of Jewish life. In total I spotted one Zim container, one homemade Israeli flag proudly flying among a row of flags along the Mekong River, and a pair of loud Hebrew speaking tourists (I'm being redundant).

Seriously, it's hard not to see the country from a very Jewish perspective. It starts with our shared experience of mass murder.

January 11th marks the 30th anniversary of the overthrow of Cambodia from the brutal forces of Pol Pot - although I was reminded that he and his troops continued to haunt the country from the periphery basically until his death in 1998. Countless comparisons to the Holocaust have been made before and for good reason.

If you haven't heard it, add the name, Tuol Sleng to Auschwitz, Bergen Belson, etc. It was the notorious prison and torture center set in a former high school in the middle of an ordinary suburban neighborhood and more than the swaying palm trees and barbed wire remain.

Not the polished floors and multimedia video displays that you'll find at Yad VaShem and the Holocaust Museums, instead clearly underfunded and understaffed with bullet marked walls, cracked tiles, shackles, and pictures of the familiar yet haunting stares of the victims.

You don't need to go to museums to hear the stories. "My father was a math teacher and for that he was murdered by the Khmer Rouge," said our tour guide as he took us through the amazingly beautiful historical ruins of Angkor Wat. A wonderful Cambodian woman returning to visit her native country, told us how her younger brother and father disappeared and that she ate rats to survive before fleeing to the US.

Yet, like Israel after the Holocaust, something special is starting to emerge out of the ashes and there is much more to the link between our peoples than genocide.

If there was an international capital for Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), aka a lab for social entrepreneurship in '08/09, this is it. Here's a glimpse of what I saw:

Eat at Friends (and scores of other cause related restaurants and shops) and have gourmet like cuisine cooked and served by former street children.

Visit the country's first dormitory for women college students built by author and MIT Professor Alan Lightman and his Harpswell Foundation (I'm honored to be on their advisory board).

Meet a Cambodian ex-pat who is providing much needed psychological counseling to a country with only a handful of mental health professionals.

See T-shirts and bumper stickers urging protection for Cambodia?s children from horrific cases of pedophilia.

Sit in a newly constructed mosque, as we did, speaking to Cham Muslims (one of the most persecuted groups under the Khmer Rouge) who are shunned by the Islamic world for embracing a moderate religious practice that would make most of us think of Reform Judaism.

Make no mistake about it, this progress is both nascent, and given the country's history and continued challenges, precarious too.

My wife and I joined five others, who are much more active than we are in helping turn Cambodia around, in an hour long meeting at the royal palace with the gracious and impressive King of Cambodia. When leaving he made a point of both thanking us for our support and expressing "the need your continued help."

While I didn't have the chance to explain the significance of the Hanukkiah we gave to King Sihamoni as a gift, later in the day I was able to play the role of Jewish emissary.

'Nes Gadol Haya Sham' (A Big Miracle Happened There) I wrote in Hebrew on the white board for students at the Harpswell Foundation's dormitory, using the familiar motto of Hanukkah.

These young women were screened and selected for their intelligence, ambition and leadership abilities. They arrived from poor rural areas and only a year or two ago first saw running water, let alone a computer, and are now ranked at the top of their respective classes at the country?s most prestigious universities.

'Nes Gadol Haya Sham' these 35 young Cambodian women enthusiastically repeated.
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Dutch Cambodia trial lawyers claim intimidation

Can you believe what is going on in Khmer Rouge Court? Cambodia is Khmer Rouge country, especially the majority of Top government officials were former Khmer Rouge. The criminals are always in a moving forward, even the judges in the UN-backed tribunal are among crooked criminals. what is the future of this hybrid tribunal going to hold for?

Two Dutch lawyers representing a former Khmer Rouge leader at the war crimes trial in Cambodia say they feel intimidated by the judges in the Cambodia tribunal. The lawyers, Victor Koppe and Michiel Pestman, have told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that the judges are threatening legal action against them because they are attempting to expose corrupt practices at the tribunal.

Mr Koppe and Mr Pestman say judges and other court personnel had to buy their appointments by handing over a significant part of their salaries to government officials. The lawyers raised the matter with the Cambodian government, but no action was taken. They then lodged a complaint with a Phnom Penh court. However the judges have threatened to counter with their own legal action, saying the lawyers' complaint was damaging the reputation of the war crimes tribunal.

The two lawyers are representing "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders due to stand trial. Read more!

PM Abhisit confident Cambodia's Hun Sen will attend ASEAN

BANGKOK, Jan 10 (TNA) -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is confident that all the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries, including Cambodia, will attend the group's summit to be held in Thailand's Hua Hin resort late next month.

Mr. Abhisit said what his Cambodian counterpart said was probably a suggestion that the ASEAN summit should be held concurrently with the group's dialogue partners, whom the Thai government had already informed of the necessary to hold the summit first as several agreements must be jointly signed by ASEAN leaders.

The Cambodian leader has been contacted and he has confirmed that he will attend the ASEAN summit February 27-March 1 in Hua Hin.

Mr. Abhisit announced on Wednesday that his coalition government had decided to move the summit to Hua Hin, southwest of Bangkok, instead of the capital, to avoid possible disruption by anti-government protesters threatening to interfere with he summit.

Due to complications, ASEAN's meeting with its dialogue partners --China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- is now expected to be held in April with an as yet undetermined venue, Mr. Abhisit said.

Despite confirmation by the Thai government leader that his Cambodian counterpart will attend the summit, Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said in Phnom Penh on Friday that Mr. Hun Sen may not attend the ASEAN summit because it would be costly and difficult for him to attend.

Also, the spokesman said talks with China, Japan and South Korea were critical because they are expected to give US$80 billion in regional aid to reduce short-term liquidity problems, in line with the so-called Chiang Mai initiatives agreed following the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Thailand presently holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN, which groups it with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. (TNA) Read more!

Vietnam-Cambodia trade hit US$1.7 billion in 2008

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Cambodia hit nearly US$1.7 billion in 2008, an increase of US$400 million from a year earlier, according to the Vietnamese Trade office in Phnom Penh.
Of the total figure, Vietnam exported US$1.45 billion worth of goods to Cambodia, the office said on January 10.

Between 2004-08, the volume of Vietnamese goods exported to the neighbouring country increased by 40 percent annually and the export value rose fivefold compared to the import value.

The leading export staples to Cambodia in 2008 were building steel, agricultural machines, fertilisers, plant pesticides, household utensils, farm produce, milk, seafood and petrol. Seafood products made up 80 percent of Cambodia’s market share, followed by building steel (68 percent) and farm produce (67 percent).

Cambodian exports were mostly wooden products, rubber latex, grains, unprocessed cashew nuts, tobacco and cassava.

By late 2008, 120 Vietnamese businesses opened their representative offices and showrooms in Cambodia.

Currently, Vietnam is Cambodia’s 10th largest foreign investor, with 19 licensed projects capitalised at US$228 million. Read more!

Former Lodi woman ready to help on a missionary trip to Cambodia

By Ross Farrow

nurse who is a fourth-generation Lodian is traveling to Cambodia to help child prostitutes and those who work for low wages in garment and other industries.

Nannette Grinnell, 58, will spend most of the next two years helping impoverished Cambodians with their basic needs. In the process, she will introduce them to Christianity in a land she describes as 99-percent Buddhist.

"She's just an unusual person and outstanding," said Arilee Pollard, a family friend from Lodi.

Working through Operation Mobilization, Grinnell will join missionaries from throughout the world in helping the poor on her mission.

"It was a lifelong dream to do it, but I never had the opportunity," said Grinnell, who spent the past week visiting her mother, Betty Grinnell, in Lodi.

Grinnell has been a registered nurse for 35 years, including two years at Stockton's Dameron Hospital before taking a similar position at Kaiser Permanente in South Sacramento in 2007. She moved to Texas six months ago to stay with her grown daughter before going overseas.

After training, Grinnell will focus primarily on children, some of whom haven't reached puberty, who are victims of the sex industry and labor practices in other fields that would violate American child labor laws.

"It's culturally accepted there," she said.

Grinnell said she will enter an environment where many mothers have died of AIDS, leaving their children to be raised by grandparents or other legal guardians with no income. That's how children become exploited in sex, garment or other industries, she said.

The plan calls for missionaries to develop relationships with grandparents and guardians, provide parenting classes and place children in a day-care center so their guardians can go to work.

"We can't change the (Cambodian) government, and we can't change their economic status, but we can give them the hope of Jesus, because that's the only hope," Grinnell said.

Additionally, she plans to use her nursing training to get families plugged into whatever medical help is available.

Going overseas for two years may be quite an undertaking, but Grinnell is excited to go.

"It's not really an interest; it's a call of my life," she said. "I'm an evangelist at heart, and I have a passion to share the gospel. I have a real passion for children to develop a foundation for the Word of God."

She took month-long missionary trips to Mexico in 1998 and India in 2000. But Grinnell said she wanted to commit herself for a longer period of time.

"I told God I would go wherever He needed me, and the doors kept opening to Cambodia," she said.

Although many missionaries are right out of college, Operation Mobilization is attracting older people — even retirees, Grinnell said.

Grinnell was born in Lodi and grew up in Placerville. She returned to Lodi in 2004 to take the Dameron Hospital position.

She came to Lodi a week ago from Texas to visit her mother, Betty Grinnell, and tie up some loose ends, like selling her car and her other possessions.

Grinnell will spend two weeks at a conference in Germany, where missionaries from around the world will take cultural training, pray for each other and give encouragement. Then she'll head to Operation Mobilization's Singapore headquarters for more training.

On Feb. 4, she will arrive to Cambodia, where she will spend three months learning the national language — Khmer. Its alphabet has 96 letters, and they're different from letters in the English language. Then she'll begin her missionary work.

When she returns in two years, Grinnell said she hopes to minister to the large Cambodian populations in Stockton and Sacramento. Read more!

Four arrested in Cambodian bomb plot

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodian authorities have arrested four men on suspicion of planting three bombs around the capital last week, a senior police officer said Saturday.

Deputy national police commissioner Sok Phal told reporters that one of the four alleged plotters was 44-year-old Som Ek, a dual Cambodian-Thai national who had previously worked as a Cambodian military policeman.

"He (Som Ek) told the police that his bomb plot was to bring attention to the group inside and outside the country, so he could extort money," Sok Phal said.

"This is just some kind of business just to rob or extort money," he added.

He said Som Ek had been arrested on Wednesday and told authorities that his group was backed by people outside Cambodia.

The deputy police commissioner gave no further details on the alleged group or other three suspects.

No one was harmed in the bomb plot in which police found three explosive devices on January 2 planted near the Ministry of National Defence and a television station.

Mine clearance personnel destroyed the bombs later that day.
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Cambodian retailers shaken by the after-effects of land speculation and economic crisis

By Ros Dina

In the middle of town or on the outskirts, in shopping centres or on little public market stalls, the sad diagnostic made by sellers is the same: for a few months now, business has been desperately slow. Already weakened by the consequences of the world economic crisis, Cambodia is experiencing the after-effects of several months of mad and unparalleled speculation in land. Indeed, many Cambodian consumers, among the wealthier, suffered the freezing of the savings they had invested in land, now affected by price stagnation. From jewellers to small street sellers, the effects of a reduced level of consumption are logically felt among merchants.

“Nowadays, Sundays are as bad as Mondays”, young Dary deplores. She sells fancy jewellery in a small shop on the third floor of Phnom Penh's brand new shopping centre, the Sovanna Shopping Mall. The first days after its opening at the beginning of 2008 saw crowds rushing in, but these days are now bygone, “even Sundays”, a traditional shopping and relaxing day for Cambodians. “Earning money is really difficult today. There are fewer and fewer customers, people do not come to the market any more”, the young woman adds, standing in front of her cheap necklace and bracelets.

11am. Around that time of the day, people usually rush about, but the market aisles are unusually quiet. Retailers are trying to keep busy reading newspapers and magazines outside their shop, while waiting for potential customers. Others mechanically dust their goods for the umpteenth time in the day...

The context then gives way to all sorts of situations, and anything will do to lure rare shoppers: a battle of promotions ensues, and signs offering 5% to 30% discounts cannot be missed. The shopping centre manager also did his own part and organised a prize draw boasting some big surprises, to attract a clientèle usually very fond of that type of game. Alas, customers are nowhere near the usual bustle. The majority of people who go to the new shopping centre is composed of high-school students, strolling around in groups of 3 or 4, but often more interested in the video game room located on the third floor than in window-shopping...

Where have all the customers gone?
“High-schoolers are not really good buyers”, Dary says, cursing her bad luck. “I rather find my best customers among the children of people affiliated to the high circles of power, or the children of wealthy Cambodians, who live here or abroad... But today, I have no idea where they may have all gone... Maybe they have gone back abroad”, she wonders. The young retailer, who used to earn a daily US$300 worth of sales when the Sovanna centre opened is now struggling to make more than US$50 a day.

Bargaining becoming fiercer with the days
Sok Long, a young Sino-Khmer owner of a mobile phone shop located near Dary's jewellery shop, shares her misfortune. In front of customers' demands, who are more and more inclined to bargaining, the young man feels desperate: “Even when I accept to cut my selling prices by a few dollars, customers don't want to buy... When a phone cost me US$120, they offer US$50 for it! I cannot lower my prices more... For a new mobile phone, I only make 2 to 3 dollars' profit”, Sok Long tells us, remembering the good old time - not so long ago - when high-ranking officials and their children used to buy two or three phones at once, without even trying to negotiate the prices...

Struggling to pay their business rent
The consequences of this slump in sales are starting to be felt: today, retailers find it hard to make ends meet and be able to pay for their business premises monthly rent. Little by little, Sok Long used all of his savings to be able to pay for his monthly US$875 rent, for an area equivalent to two shops. And he is not the only one making every effort to cover his expenses. On December 11th, shop-keepers at the Sovanna shopping centre went on strike for four days, demanding that the director reduce rents by 30% for nine months, due to bad business. Facing their discontent, the director-general eventually agreed to reduce rents by 10% for a period of 6 months.

From mobile phones to fruit and veg...
Mobile phone and jewellery shops in modern shopping centres were among the first ones to be affected by consumption decrease, but the crisis also struck those who sell vital products. Roth, a fruit and vegetables wholesaler and retailer at the O'Russey market in the centre of Phnom Penh, has not yet felt any change among his individual private buyers, he explains while tidying up his stall with the help of his wife. However, he did notice a drastic drop in whole sales. His eight main customers, who are restaurant owners, reduce their orders with every passing day, themselves experiencing difficulties with their clientèle. “At weekends, I used to sell US$800 to US$1000 worth of vegetables in just one day. Now, I only sell a quantity worth US$300 to US$500. For instance, an important restaurant owner, who makes noodle soup, only buys 10 dollars worth of vegetables every day - not that long ago, he spent 80 dollars.” For a few weeks now, Roth has watched his profit go down every day by 30%.

Households forced to cut their expenses
Nguon Chanthorn, who sells clothes at the Chom Chao market, to the South of the Phnom Penh airport on the outskirts of the capital, explains that she also tries to cope with the situation, like other retailers selling in that area of town. The mere income she manages to earn is not enough for her to sustain her standard of living. “Because of that situation, I had to reduce my daily food expenses to 3,000 riels (around 0.75 dollar) when I normally spend around 15,000 riels (3.75 dollars). Now, I only bring back home between 30,000 and 40,000 riels (between 7.5 and 10 dollars) every day, that is ten times less than before. So I only spend my money in vital goods now”, she stresses.

Near the Olympic market, this time, in the centre of town, a rice soup seller, having no customers to serve, watches people walk by. She started reducing her soup production weeks ago and now only makes half the quantity of soup she used to prepare. “Very few people have their breakfast out at the moment. Before, there was not enough room for everyone to sit. Today, my stall is very quiet, but it is even worse in other places!”, she said as her daughter, doing the washing-up, tries to explain: “It is probably because they invested their money in land, for speculations, and now they cannot sell it any more because of the economic crisis. When they used to come and have their rice soup here, they always talked land speculation and profit”...

Money frozen in pieces of land
This analysis tallies with the one made by president of the Cambodia Economic Association (CEA) Chan Sophal. “I believe that the main reason [for consumption decrease] is linked with the bad transactions generated by land speculation”, the economist puts forward. “Last year, in times of high economic growth, most Phnom Penh residents invested in land with a view to speculate. But this money now stays frozen”, he says, when income tends to decrease and consumers lack confidence, in a gloomy context of global economic recession.

The first victims of this contraction in demand, Chan Sophal details, are those sellers who cannot sell to customers, who themselves try to limit their expenses as much as possible, hoping for brighter days. But at the end of the day, this problem affects the whole economy, since sellers are buyers too... “When clothes sellers do not sell much, they reduce their expenses. Same goes for meat sellers: they do not have enough money to buy clothes”.

However, the CEA president would like to believe that the situation is not hopeless, but still reckons that a year at least will be needed before the situation goes back to normal.



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Cambodian garment industry needs to survive crisis

PHNOM PENH, Garment, the foremost pillar industry of Cambodia, has an urgency to survive its crisis in the upcoming days, amid the ongoing global financial crisis and the recession of traditional demand from the U.S. market.

LESS EXPORT IN 2008

At an annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' Federation of Textiles and Apparel (AFTEX) which was held here on Thursday, Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said that the garment industry saw a 2 percent decrease in its export in 2008 over 2007.

"This is better than my own expectation. I thought that it would have been down 5 to 7 percent," said Van Sou Ieng, chairman of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC).

Previous local reports have attributed it to the withering demand of traditional client countries.

Around 70 percent of Cambodia's garment products were sold to the United States, 4 percent to Canada and the rest mainly to European countries.

The export volume of the garment industry used to account for over 70 percent of the country's total annual export volume.

In 2007, garment export earned 2.93 billion U.S. dollars for Cambodia, according to official figures.

CRISIS AHEAD

The garment industry of the kingdom will face a 6- to 9-month-long crisis in 2009, due to lack of profitable orders, Van Sou Ieng said at the AFTEX meeting.

"I think that we will have a crisis 6 to 9 months long this year," he said.

Due to the global financial crisis, especially the U.S. economic recession, most garment factories could not secure new worthy orders and the current orders could only sustain them until March, he said.

"The crisis has propelled some buyers to give prices too low to be acceptable for the producers, so they have no choice but shut down their factories," he said.

Over 20 or even more out of the 400-strong garment factories of the kingdom have closed, leading to the unemployment of some 25,000 workers, he added.

Meanwhile, suspension of bank credit also spilled oil over the troubled water of the manufacturers, he said.

ALTERNATIVE MARKET

Japan might become the alternative market for the garment producers of Cambodia, as the demand of traditional purchasers has sharply sagged, said the chairman, adding "currently, Japanese orders are few, because their quality demand is so high that we can hardly meet it."

Fortunately, Japanese buyers have already listed some suggestions which could help Cambodia improve product quality, he said.

"Two directors, rather than one, supervise the operation of every 10 workers. This is the open sesame that they give us," he said.

The United States, as the largest buyer of Cambodian garment products, may need 2 to 3 years to cope with its economic recession, so it has become ever more urgent for Cambodian garment producers to find new markets, he added.

The garment factories of Cambodia used to employ some 300,000 people and have been the largest foreign currency contributor for the kingdom.

Garment, as a labor-intensive industry, is well-rooted in Asian countries, which still encompasses China, Vietnam and Indonesia.

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Top Cambodian KRouge trial officials to be investigated for graft

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — A Phnom Penh court will hear a corruption complaint against top officials at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal, a judge told AFP Friday.

Chief judge of Phnom Penh Municipal Court Chev Keng said he would accept the complaint against Sean Visoth, the top government official at the court, and Keo Thyvuth, its former chief of personnel, lodged Thursday by defence lawyers.

The lawyers allege the pair have received kickbacks from court workers, but on Friday the tribunal's Cambodian judges released a statement denying any involvement.

The judges added the complaint "was causing confusion and seriously affecting the honour and dignity of all individual judges and this (Khmer Rouge tribunal) institution as a whole."

Thursday's complaint was lodged by international lawyers for Khmer Rouge "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, one of five former leaders due to stand trial.

They said the failure to address corruption allegations undermined Nuon Chea's right to a fair trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Last year the UN launched an investigation into allegations that Cambodian workers had been forced to pay for their jobs, and withheld at least 300,000 dollars in July funding and court salaries.

The investigation's findings were never made public but Keo Thyvuth was later transferred from the court and Sean Visoth put on leave.

The tribunal opened in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the United Nations and Cambodia.

It is expected to hear its first case within the next few months, against former Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav.

Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork as the communist Khmer Rouge dismantled modern Cambodian society during its 1975-1979 rule in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia.
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Thai FM discusses plans for south

By Jonathan Head

Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has promised a new approach to the conflict in the country's south.

Mr Kasit told the BBC the government plans to appoint a new civilian body to administer the Muslim majority south.

It will make the military subordinate to a civilian body for the first time since violence flared in 2004 between separatist insurgents and the army.

Mr Kasit also promised a fresh start to negotiations with Cambodia over their disputed border.

A staunch supporter of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which helped unseat the last government, Kasit Piromya is the most controversial member of the new cabinet in Thailand.

As foreign minister he remains unapologetic about his support for the PAD's campaign of disruption, including the week-long occupation of Bangkok's main international airport last year.

He says he still views this as a legitimate tactic.

Armed clashes

Mr Kasit said a new civilian body would administer the south of Thailand, where 3,000 people have lost their lives over the past five years in the brutal conflict.

He also promised that soldiers found guilty of abuses would be brought to justice.

"This body will be under supervision at the political level," he said.

When asked whether the army would continue to run things in the region - as indicated by the army commander - Mr Kasit replied: "No, no - this is a civilian-led government.

"It's not the military or the police that will be running the south, it is the government which will be running the south."

The foreign minister said he also hoped to start fresh talks this month with Cambodia over the disputed territory around an ancient temple on their border, which was the scene of armed clashes between troops from the two countries.

There are no conflicts of interest to hinder us now, he said - a reference to allegations that the business interests of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Cambodia had influenced the foreign policy of the previous government. Read more!

Cambodia PM wants to unify dates of regional meets

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen urged Thailand on Thursday to coordinate the dates of regional meetings it will host because the current schedule inconveniences him and other leaders.
The annual summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations should take place at the same time as other regional get-togethers as has been the practice in the past, Hun Sen said.

"I can't travel to Thailand three times a year to join the ASEAN summit, I have my own work to do too, and I think other leaders also do," he said.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday announced that ASEAN's summit will be held Feb. 27 to March 1 at the seaside resort town of Hua Hin.

But he added separate meetings with dialogue partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand would be held in late April because Beijing will be busy with its own ruling party congress at the time of the ASEAN summit.

Hun Sen described the plan to separate the meetings as "a waste of time." He said if the meetings could not be coordinated, then they should be rescheduled for the end of the year.

Thailand had already changed the date and venue of the ASEAN meeting several times because of domestic political turmoil. The summit was originally scheduled for last December in the capital, Bangkok, then changed to the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Hun Sen is often critical of Cambodia's bigger, western neighbor Thailand, with whom it sometimes has frosty relations. Last year, a border dispute led to minor clashes in which several soldiers died.
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Cambodia's railway revenues drop by 25% over trade slump

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's railway revenues dropped by 25 percent in 2008 as freight deliveries plummeted and trade with Thailand declined, English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post said on Wednesday.

"Last year's revenues from railway transportation services was 1.5 million U.S. dollars, one quarter down from 2007," said Sokhom Pheakacanmony, director general of the Royal Railway of Cambodia.

The kingdom's limited railway, which runs from Phnom Penh municipality to port province Sihanoukville, as well as to Battambang province and Sisophon city in Bantey Meanchey province, are heavily dependent on trade with Thailand, he said.

"The drop was because the border dispute with Thailand led to a decrease in freight for goods such as cement that are brought in through the Poipet checkpoint," he was quoted by the paper as saying.

The border was closed entirely to train transportation in October, he added.

Meanwhile, the national election in July and the real estate downturn also affected the decline, he said.

"Cambodian businesses stocked up goods prior to the election and reduced their orders afterwards," he added.

According to official report, Cambodian trains transported 233,000 tons of goods in 2008, over 310,000 tons in 2007.
Read more!

Global Challenges | Children Increasingly Living With HIV/AIDS in Cambodia; Officials Focusing on Prevention

Cambodia has shifted the focus of its HIV/AIDS prevention efforts from young adults to children in response to 2008 statistics that show an increase in rates of antiretroviral use among children and mother-to-child transmission of the virus, the Phnom Penh Post reports. Mean Chhi Vun -- director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STDs -- said that the government has begun a program to provide "HIV testing for 6,745 pregnant women [this year] in 68 health centers across five of our operational districts." Thirty-five of the women tested positive for HIV and received follow-up care and medicine from the center, according to Vun. Teng Kunthy, general secretary of the National AIDS Authority of Cambodia, said that the government also is focusing on a national registration program to coordinate treatment for children living with HIV. The program "has been running smoothly so far and has encouraged more children to seek treatment," he said.

Vun said that between January and September of 2008, about 2,913 children received antiretroviral drugs, an increase from about 1,800 in 2007. He added that nationwide pediatric HIV/AIDS figures are determined by the number of children receiving antiretroviral treatment through the nation's clinics, adding that the figures do not include the estimated 600 children living with HIV who are not yet receiving treatment or who have not been tested for the virus. Chan Ry, deputy director of the National Pediatric Hospital, said that 300 children were treated at the facility in 2007 and now it is providing treatment to 1,155 children.

The increase in the number of cases involving MTCT "testif[ies] to the fact that women are not able to access good" prenatal care to prevent transmission, the Post reports. A 2006 UNAIDS report shows that while prevalence among young people ages 15 to 49 has decreased to 1.9% in 2003 -- compared with 3% in 1997 -- one-third of new HIV cases are because of MTCT. According to the Post, there are about 461,000 live births annually in Cambodia -- mostly outside of health centers and hospitals -- and an estimated 9,700 pregnant women are living with HIV. UNAIDS data indicates that without any intervention, about 3,000 infants may be born with HIV through vertical transmission. According to Tan Vouch Chheng, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Health, antiretroviral drugs are dispensed at 26 locations and HIV testing is offered at another 212 facilities. However, she added, "We have to expand our programs for prevention and the spread of HIV/AIDS from mothers to children."

The Post reports that the exact number of children living with HIV/AIDS is unknown but "experts support the proposition" that it is "rising fast." Seng Chhunleng, coordinator for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children program at World Vision, said the number of children living with HIV/AIDS will continue to increase if something is not done to stop vertical transmission. "This is a problem that we still have to commit to solving," he said, adding that Cambodia "should provide better education and more medicine to stop transmission between mothers and children" (Leakhana/Kunthear, Phnom Penh Post, 1/6).
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Providential Holdings Subsidiary PHI Mining Group Signs Agreement With Angkor Metal Corporation to Engage in Copper Mining in Cambodia

Providential Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: PRVH) (FRANKFURT: PR7) (WKN 935160), a company engaged in mergers and acquisitions, real estate development, mining, and investing in special situations, today announced that PHI Mining Group, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: PHIG), a company focused on mining opportunities in Southeast Asia, through its wholly owned subsidiary Indochina Mining Corporation (IMC), has signed a principal contract with Angkor Metal Corporation, a Cambodia-based company, to survey, explore, exploit and process copper ores in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia. According to the agreement, IMC will own 51% of Angkor Metal Corp. stock at the closing of the transaction.

Angkor Metal Corporation has already been granted an exploration license for a total area of 192 km2 (47,440 acres) in Kolean District, Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia, potentially one of the largest copper ore reserves in Southeast Asia, of which 2.5 km2 (618 acres) is fully surveyed with promising commercial exploitation ability. This mineralized material opportunity is estimated to be in excess of 500,000 metric tons and may amount to several million metric tons.
Providential Holdings, Inc. currently owns approximately 18 million shares (80%) of PHI Mining Group, Inc. stock.

About Providential Holdings

Providential Holdings and its subsidiaries engage in a number of diverse business activities, the most important of which are M&A and consulting services, real estate development, mining and investing in special situations. As part of its activities in Vietnam, Providential has been hosting seminars in conjunction with the Nasdaq Stock Market to help Vietnamese companies go public and raise capital through the U.S. financial markets. The Company currently develops "Pointe 91," an upscale residential community and luxury resort in Chu Lai, central Vietnam. Web site: www.phiglobal.com.

About PHI Mining Group

PHI Mining Group is a U.S.-based mining and exploration enterprise focused on acquiring and developing industrial mineral properties. The company is in the process of negotiating to acquire interests in diatomite, lead, copper and granite properties in South East Asia and South America. PHI Mining Group is committed to high standards in the areas of environmental management and health and safety for its employees and neighboring communities.

Web site: www.phimining.com .

Safe Harbor: This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected on the basis of such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based upon management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Read more!

Cambodian FDI inflows may weaken in 2009-World Bank

PHNOM PENH, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment in Cambodia probably fell in 2008 and, given the dire state of the world economy, may drop again in 2009, but it could pick up the following year, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

Cambodia's investment agency said projects worth nearly $6 billion were approved last year but the value of actual inflows will not be known for some time.

Many of the approved projects were island resorts and construction projects largely invested in by Chinese and South Korean firms, said Soun Siththy, Deputy Director of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).

The World Bank has projected FDI inflows at around $800 million last year and World Bank economist Huot Chea said they could fall further, 'probably to below $600 million', in 2009.

Cambodia said foreign investment of some $2.667 billion was approved in 2007 but the World Bank said the actual inflow was only $866 million.

The widespread economic slowdown, 'not political risk', was the main factor behind the drop in foreign investment, Huot Chea said.

However, the Bank expected inflows to recover in 2010 if the global economy bounced back.

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TIMELINE: Cambodia marks thirty years since Khmer Rouge

(Reuters) - Thousands of Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" marked 30 years on Wednesday since the fall of Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist regime, blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people. A handful of aging and infirm leaders from the movement are being tried at a joint Cambodian-United Nations tribunal three decades after their disastrous attempt to create an agrarian utopia ended.

Here is an overview of the rise and fall of the Khmer Rouge.

1953 - King Norodom Sihanouk proclaims independence from France, but soon abdicates to go into politics.

March 1969 - Secret U.S. bombing of Vietnamese communist bases in Cambodia begins.

March 18, 1970 - U.S.-backed premier Lon Nol ousts Sihanouk as prime minister while the latter is on an overseas trip.

April 17, 1975 - Khmer Rouge seize Phnom Penh and immediately start emptying cities and towns in a bid to create a totally agrarian society. An estimated 1.7 million people die during their nearly four years in power.

Dec 25, 1978 - Vietnam starts invasion of Cambodia after a series of increasingly daring cross-border Khmer Rouge raids.

Jan 7, 1979 - Vietnamese troops occupy Phnom Penh, driving Pol Pot to the Thai border. The occupation is to last 10 years.

May 1993 - U.N.-run election produces shaky coalition between Sihanouk's son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla installed as PM by Hanoi in the mid-1980s.

July 1997 - Pol Pot ousted as Khmer Rouge leader.

April 15, 1998 - Pol Pot dies in the jungle-clad mountain redoubt of Anlong Ven on Thai border.

Feb 9, 1999 - Last Khmer Rouge guerrillas surrender.

March 2003 - After years of negotiations, Cambodia and the U.N. sign deal to set up a joint "Killing Fields" court. Almost six years later, the court has detained five top cadres but no full trial has started.

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No more KR suspects: Cambodian prosecutor

The Extraordinary Chambers’ Chea Leang breaks her silence on why the court must not seek to bring more ex-KR leaders on the docket


PUTTING more former KR leaders on the docket would contradict the original mandate of the Khmer Rouge tribunal, overstretch its duration and budget, and undermine national stability and reconciliation, according to Cambodian co-prosecutor Chea Leang, whose reasoning against expanding the trials was made public for the first time on Monday.

Since late last year, Chea Leang and her international counterpart, Robert Petit, have been at loggerheads over whether to submit more suspects for investigation - beyond the five former Khmer Rouge leaders currently detained.

"She feels that this court should instead prioritise the trials of the five suspects already detained," especially since, according to her, the tribunal's mandate "envisioned only a small number of trials", said a statement from the UN-backed tribunal released Monday.

"She maintains that this Court's mandate can be adequately filled by the prosecution of the suspects already detained," it added.

Chea Leang, who could not be reached for comment Monday, had filed her arguments December 29 to the tribunal's Pre-Trial Chamber in response to a "statement of disagreement" lodged earlier in the month by Petit after the pair failed to agree on his proposal to add additional suspects. While Petit has refused to confirm any figures, sources close to the court say that six additional former regime members have been targeted.

"There is a difference in our interpretation of what this court is about," Petit told the Post Monday, although he insisted the disagreement has not delayed ongoing investigations at the tribunal.

Expanding the docket would help the court fulfill its mandate, he said, adding: "The stability of any society can only be enhanced by improved accountability".

Petit acknowledged that expanding the docket presented "legitimate" financial concerns but was confident the move "would be supported by donors".

Long Panhavuth, program coordinator for the legal watchdog Cambodian Justice Initiative, said, "Expanding the number of suspects will improve the integrity and independence of the court, and that will attract more donor funds".

The group has urged the Cambodian side of the court to demonstrate its independence by allowing further investigation in the face of government fears that a wider roundup could expose current leaders to scrutiny. Read more!

Where to go in Cambodia's capital

I am going to Thailand and Angkor Wat later in the year with my boyfriend. He really wants to go to Phnom Penh too, but I m a bit nervous about that. Is it a safe city, and are there things to do and see, other than just the Killing Fields, which you know who is very keen to visit? Mary Holden, Newcastle

Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: Actually, the Cambodian capital is a fabulous little place and well worth a visit I’d say, even if you don’t have your boyfriend’s ghoulish streak.

It’s changing fast, with lots of property development going on, but it still has a definite charm; a bit chaotic and noisy for sure,­ but it is set on the banks of the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers, has some interesting colonial era districts, and the fabulous Royal Palace too.

Perhaps start at the National Museum, for some peace and quiet in its lovely courtyard, and for a break from all the traffic. After that, and just across the road is the sprawling Royal Palace complex, with incredibly ornate rooms like the dance pavilion, the Throne Hall, and the famous Silver Pagoda - with over 5 tons of silver tiles on its floor. You can only peek at a few of them from an entranceway though, as most remain covered for their protection.

You should definitely stroll over to Wat Phnom too, for a good view over some of the city rooftops. It’s the only hill the city has at just 88 feet. There are some street hawkers here, but it is usually good-natured stuff, and they are really targeting the many Cambodians who climb here to pray for good luck. Oh, and do drop in on the huge domed Central Market, just towards the river from here, for some crafty souvenir shopping.

Nearby is the grand Hotel Le Royal (www.raffles.com), which has a smashing bar and restaurant, and peaceful gardens too. In the evening, there are tons of great bars and restaurants, but you should try out the Foreign Correspondents Club (www.fcccambodia.com). It’s a sundowners institution, with big armchairs, ceiling fans, and a mainly expats and backpackers crowd. There are great views from the top floor terrace, and the western food is pretty good too – pizzas from £6.

The two main Khmer Rouge era sites are the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. They are both horrific and leave a strong and lasting impression. You’ll see plenty of locals visiting here too, and if you can face it, be sure to do it at the beginning of your stay in town rather than at the end, so that the wonderful spirit and joy of Cambodia today is the impression that you leave with.

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