Capreol woman collecting money to help Cambodia's poor

A Greater Sudbury woman will hold a pair of events in early October to help raise funds for a school for children, including many orphans, in a small Cambodian village.

Tammy Durand will first hold a licenced dance entitled Crank it Up in Cape-Town in the Capreol Arena upstairs hall on Saturday, Oct. 3. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

"I have 150 (tickets) sold so far," said the Capreol native. "It's going to be good. It can hold a maximum 275 people."

Advance tickets can be purchased at the Northern Credit Union Capreol branch, Joan's Variety and Ace Hardware.

On Monday, Oct. 5, Durand plans to bicycle to Toronto via North Bay, taking Highway 11 and many back roads, to both collect money for and raise awareness about her campaign.

"I'm going to take four nights to do it," she said. "My rationale is the promotion of this. It's a 509-kilometre trip. Children would walk that in 40 days if there was a food bank at the other end. Awareness is a big thing, too. I've had 31 years of living in a bubble."

The proceeds from the fundraisers will go to Durand's "ABCs and Rice Campaign" in aid of the Supporting the Orphans and Indigent People of Cambodia for Development (SOID).

Durand met the man behind SOID, a former monk named Sok Vana, while visiting Cambodia as part of a tourist group in June. She was taking a much-needed vacation after 10 years of working in the transportation field.

SOID runs an orphanage, as well as a free school for the impoverished children of Veal, a small village near Siem Reap, a city located northwest of the capital of Phnom Penh.

"If you have seen Foster Parents Plan or World Vision commercials, that's exactly what it is -- except it means so much more when you are there," she said.

Families of students at the school are given a ration of rice each month, while students get a nourishing meal each morning, five days a week.

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Vietnam and Cambodia open three more border gates

Cambodia and Vietnam have agreed to open three more border gates in late this month and early next month to meet the increasing demand on transport of passengers and goods between the two sides.

The pairs of border gates are in Xa Mat of Vietnam’s Tay Ninh province and Trapeang Phlong of Cambodia’s Kompong Cham province, Tinh Bien of Vietnam’s An Giang province and Phnom Den of Cambodia’s Takeo province, and Ha Tien of Vietnam’s An Giang province and Lork Kam Pot of Cambodia’s Campot province.

With the three new border gates, the two countries will have five border gates for automobiles to enter and exit through under bilateral agreement on transport signed in 2005. (VNA) Read more!

Area Crop Walk Schedule

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Allentown CROP Walk, sponsored by the Lehigh County Conference of Churches, will be held Oct. 11.Registration begins at 1 p.m. at St. Timothy's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 140 S. Ott St., Allentown, and the walk begins at 1:30 p.m. For information, call Tom Smith at 610-433-6421.Bethlehem will hold its 25th CROP Walk on Oct. 11. Registration for the 5K walk begins at 1 p.m. under the Hill-to-Hill Bridge, Main and Spring streets.About 25 percent of the money raised in Bethlehem benefits local food pantries, soup kitchens, and agencies that serve the poor. A shorter alternate route is available for those walking with babies or children or for those who have mobility issues. For those who cannot walk but want to support the effort, go to http://www.cropwalkonline.org/.

For information, call Matt Piszel,

610-216-3567.

The walks raise money to end hunger and poverty in our community and around the world. Allentown and Bethlehem join Easton and about 2,000 communities across the country to address the causes of hunger, aid refugees, and help the victims of natural disasters.

CROP Walks are an interfaith effort of Church World Service working in 80 countries worldwide. The agency is helping Somali refugees, working to alleviate hunger in Cambodia, and addressing shelter, water, and sanitation needs for earthquake victims in Indonesia.

Church World Service relies on volunteerism to keep its administrative costs very low. For more information, visit http://www.churchworldservice.org/ .Boyertown will hold its walk Sunday starting at the Boyertown Area Multi Service, 301 W. Spring St. Registration 12:30 p.m., walk 1 p.m. For information, call the Rev. David M. Lewis, 610-323-2353.

Other walks Oct. 11 include:

Birdsboro: Registration 12:30 p.m., walk 2 p.m., Daniel Boone Homestead, 500 Daniel Boone Road Contact: Angie Kutz, 610-689-0425.

Blairstown, N.J.: Walk: 1 p.m., Blair Academy. Contact: Kaye Evans, evansk@blair.edu

Doylestown: Doylestown UMC, 320 E. Swamp Road. Contact: Mr. and Mrs. James Brennan, 215-230-9808.

Easton: Registration, 1 p.m., walk, 1:30 p.m., St. John's Lutheran Church, 330 Ferry St. Contact: Julie DeMotte, 610-923-8473.

Fleetwood: Starting at Fleetwood High School, 803 N. Richmond St. Registration 12:30 p.m., walk 1 p.m. Contact, Cheryl Weiser, 610-683-8010.

Lehighton: Walk begins at 2 p.m. at Lehigh Canal Park, Bridge Street,

Weissport. Contact: Shirley Radler, 610-377-4278.

North Penn/Lansdale: Trinity Lutheran Church, 1000 W. Main St., Lansdale. Registration 1 p.m., walk 1:30 p.m. Contact: Tom Allebach, 215-855-5454.

Palmerton: Starting location: St. John's Lutheran Church, 2915 Fireline Road, Lower Towamensing Township. Registration 1 p.m., walk 1:30 p.m. Contact: Debbie George, 610-826-5667.

Pennridge: Starting locations: St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Chestnut Street and Dill Avenue, Perkasie and The Golden Mile, Scout Cabin, Lenape Park, Sellersville. Registration for both are 12:30 p.m. and walks begin at 1 p.m. Contact: Rev. Dennis Hartman, 215-795-2923.

Quakertown: Starting location: Memorial Park at 600 Mill St. Registration noon, walk 1 p.m. Contact: Linda Cooper, 215-536-0395.

Royersford: Starting location: Royersford Baptist Church, 452 S. Lewis Road. Contact: Rev. Jim Roth, 610-489-0990.

CROP walks on Oct. 18 include:

Collegeville/Trappe: Registration, 12:30 p.m. and walk or run 1 p.m. at Trinity UCC, 532 E. Main Street, Collegeville. This walk offers two options: a two-mile walk or a 5K run, going in opposite directions. Contact: two-mile walk: Susan Bishop, 610-489-9626; 5K Run, Sunny Hallanan, 610-489-7564. Register with Sunny with a $15 minimum to receive a free t-shirt.

Indian Valley, Souderton: Registration 1:30 p.m., walk 2 p.m., Zion

Mennonite Church, 149 E. Cherry Lane, Souderton. Contact: Wayne Ledger, 610-316-4362.

Upper Perkiomen: Starting location: 400 Main St., Red Hill. Registration 12:30 p.m., walk 1 p.m. Contact: Linda Connell, 215-679-4112.

Other CROP walks:

Stroudsburg: Nov. 14, St. Matthew's Parish Center, 200 Brodhead Ave., East Stroudsburg. Contact, James Johnston, 570-242-8168.

Info: CROP Walk 888-297-2767 or http://www.cropwalk.org . Read more!

Cambodia, Thailand sign MOU of exchange of traffic rights for border trade

Cambodia and Thailand on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for exchange of traffic rights to boost the crossing border trade and transport facilitation between the two countries.

The MOU was signed at the end of the Second GMS Economic Corridors Forum in Phnom Penh under the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

"It is a bilateral agreement and also it has implemented the GMS cooperation in speeding up the trade and transport facilitation," Cham Prasidh, senior minister and minister of commerce told reporters at a press conference after the Forum.

"Both agreed to allow access of 40 trucks per day to and from both countries. The access is not only to the border area but to the whole country," he said, adding that it will promote the bilateral trade of the two neighboring countries.

Currently, Cambodia exports goods worth about 30 million U.S. dollars each year through Poi Pet border gate into Thailand and Thailand exports goods worth about 400 million U.S. dollars through that border gate into Cambodia, according to Cham Prasidh.

"We already signed such MOU with Vietnam aiming at boosting bilateral trade," he noted.

At the same time, Virachai Virameteekul, minister attached to the Thai Prime Minister's office said at the Second GMS Economic Corridors Forum that this agreement will inspire for more agreements of this kind among other GMS (Great Mekong Subregion Cooperation) member countries. "Transport facilitation is important and so is trade facilitation," he said.

In this connection, trade and custom facilitation, including harmonization of rules and regulations must be accelerated, and the involving governmental officials from both sides will work together for this trade and transport facilitation, he noted.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Top Turkish Newspaper Openly Writes of Armenian Genocide

In a very rare news article published by one of the top newspapers in Turkey Today's Zaman the author openly speaks about the Armenian Genocide and how they were orchestrated.

In the beginning it was total silence and denial. Then in the recent two years we started seeing phrases like "so called Armenian Genocide," "Armenian claims of genocide," and so on. In any case the word genocide was always written in quotation marks. Yet today, one of Turkey's premier newspapers Today's Zaman published a rare story about how the Armenian Genocide was organized and orchestrated by the ruling elite of the Turkish government in 1915.

Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a human rights advocate writes that the "Massacres of Armenians were orchestrated and organized by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) -- which came to power through a military coup -- while the Ottoman Empire was falling apart. After these massacres and as a result of the lack of confrontation with our past, the CUP and its gangs changed their format and turned into the “deep state” in Turkey. These deep state elements continued their massacres and manipulations and drenched Turkey with blood during the Republican era. We have these deep state elements, but we also have many people fighting against them with or without knowing the history."

True the word genocide is not used in that paragraph. Instead Cengiz is using the phrase Massacres of Armenians. However, in the 5th paragraph he openly talks about the Armenan genocide in the following way. "I was in Toronto last year attending an extremely interesting course on genocide. For two weeks we went into all the details of different genocides that took place in various parts of the world. All lecturers gave exemplary presentations, and I felt I had really learned something. However, I also realized that there was a fundamental difference in the way in which the Armenian genocide is being handled. When we spoke about the Holocaust, we spoke of the Nazi regime; when we discussed the genocide in Cambodia, we talked about the Khmer regime; when it came to the Armenian genocide, though, we only heard the word "Turks."

While his sincerity is most appreciated he does have a point that when the world refers of the Jewish or Cambodia national tragedies we do refer to regimes. However, we speak of the Armenian Genocide Turks are indeed pointed. But why is this?

It is the 90 years of the denial of the truth and the fear to face its own history that has made things come to this place, where a Turk is pointed when speaking of the Armenian Genocide. Why is it taking Germany only 20 years to face the Jewish Holocaust, say thank you and compensate, but when it comes to the Armenian Genocide even the past 90 years are not enough?

It is believe that if Turkey had earlier recognized the genocide and condemned it the following generations would have blamed it to the ruling regime of the time not the nation. In fact, I have heard many stories that many Turkish families have risked their lives hiding the Armenian families, their neighbors from massacres and killings in and around 1915.

A historic moment is upon us. Today the president of Armenian, meeting with the leaders of various Armenian parties and discussing the pre-signing of the Turkey Armenia normalization protocols, despite much criticism, said that "we want to show that even the nation that has fallen a victim to a genocide can be the first to offer a hand of normalization of relationship." Arming themselves with sincerity, honesty and the sense of fairness and justice the Armenian, Turkish and Azerbaijani nations should look to a new South Caucasus, building a better future for their children and themselves.

Written by Armen Hareyan
Founder of HULIQ.com

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Thailand 'lying' over boy's death, says Cambodia

Cambodia yesterday accused Thailand of lying when it denied involvement in the death of a Cambodian teenager near the border of Thailand's northeastern Surin province.

The young Cambodian was reportedly shot and burned alive as he and other Cambodian loggers tried to escape from the Thai military into Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province.

The Second Army Region Commander Lt. General Wiboonsak Neeparn said he had checked records of all agencies under his command and found no evidence of any shooting.

"There was no such incident in the area. I wonder why Cambodia made such a report?" the commander said.

The Thai Foreign Ministry has maintained the same stance, saying the brutal incident never happened.

Ministry spokesperson Wimon Kidchob said earlier Thai soldiers fired bullets into the air after finding eight Cambodians sneaking into Thailand to cut down trees.

The denial has angered authorities in Cambodia, both in Oddar Meanchey and in Phnom Penh.

Oddar Meanchey Governor Pich Sokhin called the Thai assertion a lie. "How could our people have been injured and killed if their soldiers shot into the air?" the governor was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post.

"Their interpretation is a lie to avoid responsibility and to hide their cruelty from the public. Our people are injured and dead. How can they say they are not responsible?"

The Cambodian Foreign Ministry has sent a diplomatic note to Bangkok asking for an explanation and is still awaiting an official reply.

Phnom Penh has urged Thailand to conduct an investigation into the case and find and punish those responsible.

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Chinese VP meets Cambodian king

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (front, R) meets with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni (front, L) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 16, 2009. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinpingmet here Wednesday with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni.

Xi said China and Cambodia are good neighbors with long-term traditional friendship, and such a friendly neighborhood has been strengthened in recent years in an all-round way.

The two countries have expanded their friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation in political, economic, cultural and educational areas, Xi said.

"China-Cambodia relations are a good example of cooperation based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence," Xi said.

He praised the contribution of the Cambodian royal family to boosting the ties with China, expressing gratitude for the support on issues concerning China's sovereignty and core interests related to Taiwan and Tibet.

"China attaches importance to the relations with Cambodia, and will make joint efforts to push forward comprehensive and cooperative partnership in a long-term and healthy way," Xi said.

Sihamoni said Cambodia values the relationship with China and will continue to promote their cooperation. He reaffirmed Cambodia will adhere to the one-China policy.

Sihamoni was crowned King in 2004 from his father Norodom Sihanouk who had maintained close relations with China.

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Cambodian opposition leader Mu Sochua speaks of government repression at home

Social-welfare grad faces potential arrest following testimony to U.S. lawmakers, she says

By Cathy Cockrell, NewsCenter

BERKELEY — "We cannot accept democracy fed to us by the teaspoon; we want full democracy," a Cambodian parliamentary opposition leader, Mu Sochua, told an audience at Berkeley in a brief but impassioned talk Sept. 14.

Her campus appearance came just four days after she testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, telling members of Congress that "democracy in Cambodia is experiencing an alarming free fall."

According to the human-rights advocate, that act of defiance has been ill received by the ruling regime back home, and daily radio attacks against her by a government spokesman have taken a serious turn. "This morning … he used the word 'traitor,'" she said, noting that treason carries a prison sentence of 20 years to life in Cambodian law. "I am going home facing jail," Ms. Mu said with emotion.

"I have no fear of jail," she later added, "but I fear something else which I can't tell you — not the bullets, but the acid attack. That is very common."

A Cal alum who earned her master's degree at the School of Social Welfare in 1981 and Berkeley's prestigious Haas International Award in 2006, Mu has spent a quarter century battling sex trafficking, domestic violence against women, government corruption, and illegal appropriation of land in her country. In 2005, in recognition of her efforts, she was one of 1,000 women from 153 countries nominated jointly for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Mu has served in the Cambodian government as adviser on women's affairs to the prime minister and as the nation's minister of women's and veterans' affairs. More recently, as a member of the Sam Rainsy opposition party, her relationship with government authorities has deteriorated. Mu has been stripped of the immunity normally accorded members of Parliament, and on Aug. 4 was found guilty by the courts in Phnom Penh of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has held power since the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

In her talk before a standing-room-only audience of several hundred, Mu said her life's work had been informed by values she learned at the School of Social Welfare. But "what I learned on the ground," she added, "is that social work alone" — as a means to ameliorate her people's social and economic problems — "will continue to make the people feel as if they are victims.

"We cannot afford to let our people believe they are victims," Mu said. "We have to go one step beyond that…. If we really want a change, it has to be a political issue." Language and culture present barriers to political change, she said: the term "accountability," for example, has no equivalent in Cambodian, while the word for "opposition" implies someone who is confrontational and destructive. Working against such obstacles, Mu, as leader of her party's women's movement, spearheaded a campaign to identify and encourage grassroots women to run for office in their villages.

According to the Asian Human Rights Commission, the Cambodian government is increasingly using the judicial system to silence opposition leaders, journalists, and human-rights organizations. Mu noted that Cambodia receives $1 billion a year in foreign aid, $53 million of it from the United States, despite its flaunting of legal and human rights. She called on members of the campus community to demand that U.S. aid to Cambodia be tied to compliance with human-rights standards and to demand that those Cambodians who speak out publicly against the government not be persecuted for doing so.

"Send a signal to Hillary Clinton," Mu said. "I don't want to go to jail. With your silence, I will go to jail."

More information: "Fighting Cambodia’s Goliath: Mu Sochua (MSW ’81)," from the School of Social Welfare ENews..

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RP Seals 10th ASA this year with Cambodia

THE Philippines and Cambodia sealed on Wednesday their first air pact, fielding a total of 35 weekly flights.

Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) deputy executive director Porvenir Porciuncula said the two-day discussion among the panels of both countries was concluded in Cambodia.

Both panels agreed on seven flights per week on the Manila-Cambodia route, 14-weekly flights on Clark-Cambodia, and another 14 flights per week on points in the Philippines except Manila and Clark.

The Philippine panel is composed of officials from the departments of Transportation and Communications, Foreign Affairs, Tourism, and Trade and Industry, CAB and representatives from airline companies.

The CAB expects to clinch agreements with six more countries for the rest of the year, said CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla.

“We have lined up a number of countries and we are just waiting for a confirmation of the schedule. These are the countries that we are coordinating with to discuss our air services agreement (ASA),” said Arcilla.

The CAB official said the panel is expected to hold bilateral negotiations with Turkey, China, Russia, Italy, Korea and Iceland to amend the Philippines’ existing ASAs with them.

The latest air pact, sealed with the United Kingdom in July, was the ninth agreement sealed by the Philippine air panel this year. In June a new deal with Singapore was finalized.

Other ASAs were sealed with Spain, Brunei, Australia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.  

In the past, the panel clinched agreements with Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau, Canada, Finland, Iran and the Netherlands. L. Lectura

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Cambodia protests alleged Thai brutality at border

Cambodia sought an explanation from Thailand on Wednesday for an incident in which a Cambodian youth was allegedly shot, then burned alive by Thai paramilitary troops in a disputed border area.
Ouch Borith, a senior Cambodian Foreign Ministry official, said Thailand had yet to reply to a diplomatic letter sent Tuesday requesting an investigation into the incident.

The Cambodian letter said Thai rangers shot at a group of Cambodian villagers who were allegedly cutting down trees illegally in the border area of Oddar Meancheay Province last Friday.

It said two teenage boys from the group were badly wounded. One of them, identified as Mao Kheung, escaped, while the other, 16-year-old Yon Rith, was arrested and burned alive by Thai forces, it claimed.

"The boy was our compatriot and he has received very cruel and inhumane treatment from the Thai forces, such as should not occur in the 21st century," Ouch Borith said.

Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Wimon Kidchob told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday that the Cambodian villagers had crossed into Thai territory and were simply sent back.

"According to the military, there was no arrest. They were given a warning and pushed back without any incident," she said.

Ouch Borith said Cambodia officials had collected the boys remains _ a rope used to tie his hands and a pile of ashes _ from the scene of the incident.

He urged the Thai government to seriously investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.

Tensions going back centuries between the neighboring countries flared in 2003, when a mob burned down the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh after a Thai actress allegedly made an insulting remark. Tensions soared again last year over the disputed border territory.
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War-weary Asian nations offer new treats for tourists

Tempting tourists back when the bombing stops is never easy, but war-weary Asian countries are planning new treats for travellers in a bid to cash in on a "peace dividend".

Governments are scrambling to replace images of conflict with offers of dream holidays, from whale-watching in Sri Lanka to leisurely treks in Nepal, meditation in Bali and golf in Cambodia.

Sri Lanka's golden beaches, along with tea plantations and ancient religious sites, had long attracted visitors -- but numbers dropped as decades of war tormented the teardrop-shaped tropical island.

When government forces claimed victory against Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in May, tourism chiefs set to work, launching a campaign entitled "Sri Lanka: Small Miracle", to polish its post-war image.

One of the new activities designed to sell the country as a diverse destination is whale watching, focused on the giant mammals frequenting the island's shores between December and April.

British marine biologist Charles Anderson says the numbers of blue and sperm whales and their proximity to shore make the island a natural lure for the growing numbers of eco-tourists.

"Sri Lanka has enormous potential to be a whale destination," said the Maldives-based Anderson, who has been studying Indian Ocean whales for 25 years.

Dileep Mudadeniya, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau's managing director, estimates the promotional campaign will help raise tourist arrivals by at least 20 percent to 500,000 visitors in 2010.

"We have an image that has been challenged by war and travel advisories. Now the war is over. There is lot of interest in us and we will see an upswing by November," Mudadeniya told AFP.

Another country recently freed from the grip of conflict, Nepal, is also hoping that peace will bring back the tourists and is looking to tempt them with a new "Himalayan Trail" running the length of the country.

The number of tourists travelling to Nepal slumped during a 10-year civil war between the army and Maoist rebels which ended in 2006.

But last year a record 550,000 people visited the Himalayan state after foreign governments relaxed their travel warnings.

Tourism authorities say they hope to attract a million visitors by 2011 and are focusing on some of the less developed areas of the country, where few foreigners have ventured.

"We are banking on the peace dividend," said Aditya Baral, director of the Nepal Tourism Board.
"There are lots of unexplored areas in western and eastern Nepal and this time we are trying our best to encourage people to visit those areas where very few people have travelled."

One plan -- still in its early stages -- involves creating a "Himalayan Trail", taking trekkers to some of the remotest parts of the country.

The trail would link paths already used by local people to transport goods and livestock, and would take three months to complete -- with most visitors expected to walk it in stages.

Even intermittent violence can ruin a country's tourist trade, as the Indonesian resort island of Bali learnt to its cost after Islamic militant bomb attacks in 2002 and 2005 killed a total of some 220 people.

The first Bali bombings cut foreign tourist arrivals to the island by 70 percent -- and they took years to return.

Bali Tourism Board secretary general Anak Agung Suryawan Wiranatha said the island had marketed itself as a haven of peace to counter the negative consequences of the bombings.

"Now we promote Bali as a peaceful and spiritual destination. We promote yoga and meditation on the island," Wiranatha said.

"Now health tourism and spas are booming. They are the favorites of tourists from Japan and Korea."

But it is not easy to rebuild tourism in a country that has seen sustained violence, like Cambodia, where up to two million people died under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.

Decades of civil strife ended in 1998, and tourism is now one of the few sources of foreign exchange for the impoverished southeast Asian nation.

Even though Cambodia now lures more than two million foreign visitors a year, most stay only briefly to see the ancient World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat temple complex.

"We need time to (change our image)," Ho Vandy, co-chair of Cambodia's tourism working group told AFP.

The government last year launched an international "Kingdom of Wonder" campaign promoting the country's beaches, eco-tourism and culture.

More than 20 islands have been designated for development, Vandy said, while a new airport in seaside Sihanoukville is expected to open later this year.

Other plans include a game park for well-heeled hunters in the remote jungle-covered northern Ratanakiri province and several luxury golf courses around the country.

Nothing illustrates the cost of violence and the value of peace in the Asian region quite as clearly as the contrasting situations in Pakistan's Swat valley and Indian Kashmir.

Tourists are returning to Kashmir, once described by a 17th-century visiting emperor as a "paradise on earth", as militant violence in the Muslim-majority region subsides to its lowest level since 1989.

In 1988 more than 700,000 tourists visited Kashmir, but the number declined sharply as the insurgency intensified. Now the tide appears to be turning again, with more than 380,000 visiting in the first seven months of 2009.

Not far away, Pakistan's Swat valley was the jewel of the country's tourism crown and known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan" -- until Taliban militants this year pushed into towns and villages in a bid to enforce sharia law.

It is not just Swat that has been hit by insurgents -- more than 2,000 people have been killed in Taliban-linked attacks across Pakistan in the last two years, scaring away all but the most intrepid foreign tourists.

Pakistan earned 16 billion rupees (200 million dollars) from 800,000 visitors in 2007. Fewer than 400,000 visitors came in 2008, bringing in just eight billion rupees, and the numbers are expected to be even lower this year.

"Terrorism has really affected us a great deal," Tourism Minister Ataur Rehman told AFP.

"We have started our endeavours to attract tourists from the world over as the situation in Swat and other areas is stable now and will enable us to again make them attractive tourist zones," he said.

But the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009 put Pakistan at 113 out of 130 countries, and officials say there is a long way to go until Swat is returned to its former glory.

Until then, tourists are likely to turn to the countries that have already put their conflicts behind them, to sample the new temptations on offer.
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Thai FM visits area near Preah Vihear temple

Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya Sunday visited the area near Preah Vihear Temple during which he was welcomed by Cambodia's military leaders and both sides agreed to avoid more clashes, an official said on Monday.

Chhum Socheat, spokesman of National Defense, said on Monday that Kasit Piromya was inspecting his Thai military that have been posted at the border front lines before entering into the area near Preah Vihear Temple.

According to Chhum Socheat, Kasit was welcomed by Gen. Chea Dara, deputy commander-in-chief of Cambodia's armed forces, and both held a brief talk on the situation and exchanged pledges from the two countries' leaders of not having more clashes and were committed to solve the border issue by peaceful means.

Socheat said Kasit had requested a prior permission from Cambodia before entering into the area, for a one-hour visit, to learn and understand the situation there.

Kasit's visit to the area was made more than two weeks after Cambodia had withdrawn half of its troops from the disputed area to ease the tension.

Skirmishes between Cambodia and Thai forces occurred four times since the border conflict began in July last year.

The border conflict began after Preah Vihear Temple was listed as the World Heritage Site on 7 July, 2008.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Cambodia PM lauds China's aid

Cambodia's premier lauded China for providing billions of dollars of aid without imposing conditions, a subtle jibe at Western donors who seek curbs on human rights abuses and corruption.

"They are quiet, but at the same time they build bridges and roads, and there are no complicated conditions," Prime Minister Hun Sen at a ceremony for the construction of a new bridge built with $US128 million of Chinese aid.

Hun Sen recently rejected World Bank aid intended for settling land disputes after the Washington-based institution and rights groups accused Cambodian authorities of forcibly evicting tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Speaking to about 1,000 villagers and China's ambassador in Prek Kdam, about 50 km north of the capital Phnom Phen, Hun Sen said Beijing's aid had helped Cambodia become more independent while fostering social and economic development.

"China respects the political decisions of Cambodia," he said. "We have a mutual understanding and respect each other."

Cambodia's government has come under fire recently, accused of corruption and undermining the judiciary, although analysts say the investment environment is stable after decades of poverty, brutalilty and instability.

China is Cambodia's biggest aid donor, providing $US600 million in 2007 and about $260 million in 2008.

It also leads the country's foreign direct investment, with about $US1 billion spent in the war-scarred Southeast Asian nation this year.

Hun Sen added he also supported China's multimillion dollar investments in hydroelectric power.
Western environmentalists have accused Cambodia of failing to provide adequate environmental safeguards for such projects.


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Cambodia accuses Thai soldiers of killing teenager

It have been years after years, the THAI soldiers have been shooting and killing Cambodian civilians. All victims were shot or burned alive in execution style. Those evil Thai soldiers are cold blood killer and never getting punishment. They had no rights to kill Cambodian Citizens. Those Evil must be taken to justice.

A Cambodian provincial official has accused Thai soldiers of shooting a Cambodian teenager engaged in illegal logging and then setting him on fire, the website of the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported.

Thon Nol, governor of Samrong district in Oddar Meanchey province, claimed Thai soldiers accused Yon Rith, 16. of illegally felling trees and shot him.

The victim's family found his charred body and took it to their village for a funeral, he said.

He also accused the Thai soldiers of shooting and seriously wounding another teenage boy from the same village in Kon Kreal commune. Friends carried him to Cambodian territory and the teenager was being treated at a local hospital.

Cambodian officials denounced the violence as "cruel" acts.

"Why did they burn a person alive? [The armed forces] should have arrested them if they did anything wrong in Thailand," a Cambodian cabinet official Pich Ratana was quoted as saying.

The governor said Cambodian authorities were trying to help the victims.

Nanh Sovann, a Cambodian military officer who has worked with the Thai army, said he had heard of the incident but was waiting to see an official report.

The Thai army had not responded to the news report as of Monday evening. Read more!

UN names Cambodian genocide museum leading archive

PHNOM PENH (AP) - Cambodia's Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly a prison and torture center operated by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, has been declared by the U.N. to be an archive of worldwide significance for its historical documents.

The Cambodian government and U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO - opened a meeting Monday to establish a national committee to oversee the museum's operation as a newly designated "Memory of the World" site.

A UNESCO meeting at the end of July in Bridgetown, Barbados named the museum as one of 35 archives worldwide added to a list of almost 200 that are exceptional historical repositories.

The museum, formerly a high school in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, was turned into S-21 prison after the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975. Of the estimated 16,000 men, women and children who passed through its gates, only a handful survived. An estimated 1.7 million people died as a result of the communist Khmer Rouge's radical policies from 1975 to 1979.

The museum's archive includes 4,186 confessions - often falsely given by prisoners under torture - 6,226 biographies of prisoners, 6,147 photographic prints and negatives of prisoners and other items.

The prison was headed by Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, who is currently being tried by Cambodia's U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

About 30 people attended the workshop, including officials from Tuol Sleng, the National Museum and the Culture Ministry, government advisers and UNESCO officials.

Helen Jarvis, a government adviser, told the workshop that the archive constitutes the most complete extant documentary picture of the Khmer Rouge regime and an essential part of Cambodia's recent history. It is also being used to provide pivotal evidence at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, she said.

Some aspects of the Memory of the World project deal with man's inhumanity to man, and the Tuol Sleng museum has "documentation of one of the most extreme examples of crimes against humanity in the 20th century with a major impact on world history," Jarvis said.

UNESCO established the Memory of the World Program in 1992 to respond to the growing awareness of the problems of preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage in various parts of the world.

Its guidelines state that the world's documentary heritage should be preserved, protected and made permanently accessible to the public. Read more!

Cambodian-Chinese friendship benefits two peoples:Hun Sen

PHNOM PENH, The friendship and cooperation between Cambodia and China have brought continued benefits to the two peoples, said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1958 under their then leaderships -- His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, he said in a recent written interview with Xinhua.

"Until now, the Cambodian people always consider the relations a valuable legacy of the two leaders," he said, adding that "such good relations have been constantly strengthened by their succeeding leaders and their peoples."

He said the Kingdom of Cambodia have always staunchly adhered to the one-China policy and regard Taiwan and Tibet as inalienable parts of China.

Hun Sen said that over the recent years, there have been frequent exchanges of high-level visits between both countries. "And as for myself, since 2004, I, as a Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, have paid eight visits to China," he said.

"Obviously, such visits have further strengthened the friendship" between the two countries and promoted their economic, trade, culture and tourism cooperation.

He noted that China has provided huge financial assistance in the forms of grants and loans for major infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and hydro power stations.

From 1992 to June 2009, China's financial aid to Cambodia has totaled some 923 million U.S. dollars, Hun Sen said.

He also extended his congratulations on the 60th anniversary of the birth of New China which falls on Oct. 1.

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China becomes Cambodia's biggest development partner: PM

PHNOM PENH, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that China became a biggest development partner that has assisted to build Cambodia's infrastructure.

"China is a big country but they always respected us the small one. China has always followed our decision for constructing the infrastructure in Cambodia. That is the greatest value for us," he said while attending the closing ceremony of the Prek Kdam Bridge which is under preferential buyer's credit loan from China.

"I have always told Chinese leadership that the assistance from China not only helps economic and social development in Cambodia but also helps Cambodia to strengthen the independence of Cambodian politics," he added.

He pointed out that "the good cooperation and relationship between the two countries also got the in-heritage from former king father Preah Norodom Sihanouk because former king exercised one china policy in years and I myself has been continuing to do it."

China has a special habit, he noted, which is that Chinese speak less but do a lot and it is good point, adding that "I could work with Chinese leaders. China always keeps quiet but they offered the assistance for us and do more for us, and their assistance is without conditions."

He also highlighted that he has worked with three Chinese prime ministers including Li Peng and Zhu Rongji and has been continuing to work with Prime Miniter Wen Jinbao. Moreover, he said "Chinese leaders' language are easy to understand because Chinese side has always said that assistance from them focus on the infrastructure projects on economic development effectively and helps poverty reduction in the country."

"I also thanked Chinese side that they considered me as their old friend. We have confidence each other in cooperation between the two countries," he said.

"We all thanked Chinese government and their people for their efforts which have contributed to develop Cambodia's infrastructure." He asked the Chinese ambassador who are in the presence to convey his words to the Chinese side.
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Child sex tourism study 'blames Aussies'

STEVE LILLEBUEN


With a middle-class background and an internet connection, the Australian man is keen to explore travel deals advertised across the web.

He is the co-worker, relative and mate who awaits cheap flights to Southeast Asia that the economic downturn has made all the more plentiful.

But he is drawn to such tropical places not for the beaches, cheap drinks and a brief escape from the rat race.

He is the customer in a growing global issue that sees over 1.8 million children as young as eight years old being sold for sex - sometimes up to ten times a day - until they're considered "worthless" before they reach their 30th birthday.

And new studies reveal this man has more mates than ever who think and act just like him.

Australians make up the largest portion of foreign sex offenders against children in Thailand, according to research at John Hopkins University in Baltimore that studied patterns of arrests and prosecutions between 1995 and 2006.

His money is fuelling a $US31.6 billion ($A36.5 billion) industry in trafficking in what a recent report by a global network of groups against child sex slavery concludes is a "massive human rights violation that is currently going largely unnoticed around the world".

Bernadette McMenamin, CEO of Child Wise Australia, says child sex trafficking remains a hidden problem that most Australians have become complacent about - even though a main root of the global crime is the Australian offender.

"People tell us, 'It happens overseas. Isn't that an issue we talked about years ago?' But what we've found is that ... the supply and demand factors fuelling child sex slavery have actually grown," she told AAP.

"The number of children entering the trade has grown. Efforts to combat this problem have not succeeded despite pouring money into overseas governments."

A new global campaign called "Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People," will be launched on Monday to help reverse the trend and bring the issue back into the homes of the average Australian.

Being run across 45 countries, the campaign aims to raise awareness, conduct a survey on people's attitudes and lobby national governments.

In February, Child Wise will step up the campaign by backing stalled amendments to child sex tourism laws in the federal parliament.

Rather than seeing authorities wait for child sex to occur before acting, the amendments seek out preparatory offences: stopping sex offenders from travelling overseas, buying flights and possessing child pornography.

"We've waited long enough," Ms McMenamin says of the proposed changes. "We're simply not keeping up with travelling sex offenders."

Only small changes are required to save Asian girls from being sold into a life of slavery, she says.

The Body Shop has already joined the Child Wise campaign by selling a hand cream that directs profits to Cambodian outreach programs.

Such programs can provide support for girls and keep them in school with books, pens and bicycles.

It may not seem like a lot but the average child sex slave is sold for only a few hundred dollars by a family or boyfriend in poverty desperate for cash, she says.

In Cambodia children are brought in from Vietnam or taken from village to village, then off to Thailand.

All these victims suffer lifelong mental and physical damage. Some contract HIV/AIDS while most find it hard to reintegrate into society after a decade of such slavery.

Ms McMenamin says most Australians view the price of petrol as a greater concern than the welfare of foreign children.

"We have increased awareness and there have been some arrests but overall we're not putting a dent in the problem," she says.

"We need people to try and think beyond what's going on in their lives."


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Prosecutor wants 5 more Khmer Rouge investigated

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -A prosecutor at Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal has formally recommended that five more suspects be investigated for crimes against humanity and other offenses, setting the legal body on a collision course with the country's powerful prime minister.

A statement from the tribunal Tuesday said the acting international co-prosecutor, William Smith of Australia, submitted his recommendation to the co-investigating judges, who would then decide whether to issue arrest warrants.

Citing the confidentiality of the process, the tribunal announcement did not identify the five new suspects. It said the cases involved at least 32 instances of murder, torture, unlawful detention, forced labor, and persecution that constituted violations of Cambodian and international law.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly spoken out against expanding the list of defendants beyond the one now on trial — Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, — and four others in custody.

On Monday, Hun Sen said such action could lead to civil war, a claim doubted by his critics.
"I would like to tell you that if you prosecute (more leaders) without thinking beforehand about national reconciliation and peace, and if war breaks out again and kills 20,000 or 30,000 people, who will be responsible?" Hun Sen said.

The tribunal's Cambodian co-prosecutor opposed further indictments, but the tribunal last week ruled that his international counterpart could seek them. The tribunal, created last year under an agreement reached in 2003 between Cambodia and the United Nations, employs joint teams of Cambodian and international court personnel.

Lars Olsen, a spokesman for the tribunal, said there was no timeframe for action by the co-investigating judges on Smith's submission, made Monday.

The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the communist regime's radical policies while in power between 1975-79.

The U.N. administrator for the tribunal issued a blunt reminder Tuesday to Hun Sen that the panel was independent.

"It is a clearly established international standard that courts do not seek approval of advice on their work from the executive branch," Knut Rosandhaug said in a statement.

Critics accuse Hun Sen of trying to limit the tribunal's scope to prevent his political allies from being indicted. Hun Sen once served as a Khmer Rouge officer and many of his main allies are also former members of the group.

The tribunal's long-awaited first trial — of Kaing Guek Eav, the Khmer Rouge's chief jailer for war crimes and crimes against humanity — opened in March. A joint trial of the four other defendants is expected within the next two years.

The Khmer Rouge came to power after a bitter 1970-75 civil war, and after being ousted from power in 1979, carried out an insurgency from the jungles until 1999.
Hun Sen has dominated Cambodian politics for more than two decades. He ousted his former co-prime minister in a 1997 coup and has since ruled virtually unchallenged.

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Mike Fowler | Journalist/prosecutor trained reporters around the world

BY ELINOR J. BRECHER


Mike Fowler, a veteran lawyer/journalist who left Miami jobs in both fields to train reporters in Asia and the Middle East, died Aug. 18 in New Hampshire. He was 67.

His wife, journalist Susan Postelwaite, said he suffered complications from routine laparoscopic surgery for gastro-intestinal reflux.

The couple and daughter Kim, 8, were summering at their home in North Sandwich, N.H., when Fowler took sick. They'd planned a return to Kim's native Cambodia, where both Fowler and Postelwaite wrote and taught.

During the 1970s and '80s, the Kansas City native worked in Miami for UPI and the Miami News and taught part time at Florida International University. After graduating from the University of Miami School of Law, he became a prosecutor in then-State Attorney Janet Reno's office.

The two-time Knight Fellow went on to train journalists, write and teach in Egypt, India, Bulgaria and Afghanistan, as well as Cambodia.

``He was really important because during the early to mid-1990s, Cambodia's journalism was very young and we strongly needed training to pass on the skills and knowledge to local journalists,'' Moeun Chhean Narridh, director of the Cambodian Institute for Media Studies, told the English language Cambodia Daily.

Miami political consultant Keith Donner took classes from Fowler in the mid-1980s at FIU's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

``Mike was this mixture of Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene,'' Donner recalled. ``He was a tall, hulking guy -- about six-foot-five -- with a great wit and tremendous intellect,'' as well as a fondness for cigarettes and Scotch.

``He was the coolest guy in a very cool profession.''


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