Cambodia names multilateral peacekeeping exercise in 2010 as "Year of Angkor"

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia has named a multilateral peacekeeping exercise to be held in the kingdom in 2010 as "Year of Angkor," the Jian Hua Daily said on Monday.

The title of "Angkor" can be traced back to the 802-1423 dynasty, when the Khmer nationality had its most glorious period in history.

The exercise in 2010 will have at least 13 participating countries, most of them Asian ones, the Chinese-language newspaper quoted military officers as saying.

In early April, Prak Sokhon, secretary of state at the Cambodian Council of Ministers, told reporters that 2,000 troops from 13 countries will take part in the U.S.- and UN-sponsored exercise to be held in Kompong Speu province in 2010.

The event will be conducted in the framework of the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), an annual training event attended by GPOI member nations and other regional and international partners, according to the U.S. Embassy.

GPOI once held such exercises in Bangladesh in 2008 and Mongolia in 2007. Garuda Shield 09 in Indonesia is the upcoming GPOI serial exercise, for which Cambodia prepares to dispatch some60 soldiers.

According to official files, Cambodia respectively sent 40 soldiers to Bangladesh and 43 to Mongolia to take part in these GPOI exercises.