Dragon's shadow lengthens over Cambodia

Economic activity between the two countries is being stepped up in the sectors of trade, industry, and tourism. China also offers military assistance, while the percentage of students studying Mandarin is increasing. But the Chinese influence is also bringing corruption and the exploitation of manual labour.

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews) - Chinese influence is growing in Cambodia: the Asian giant, thirsty for energy and raw materials, and interested in extending its influence in the region, is stepping forward as the country's leading investor and trade partner. This influence is not limited to trade and industry, but extends to the social and cultural level, since the Chinese language has become an essential point of reference in the business world, surpassing even the monopoly held until now by English.

Relations between the two countries date back to the end of the 1950's, and were reinforced two decades later during the bloody regime of the Maoist dictator Pol Pot, actively supported by China, in spite of the genocide of the Khmer people, which caused the death of more than one million Cambodians in less than five years. Sources for the Chinese News Agency say that China is one of Cambodia's main trade partners, thanks to the 3,016 Chinese businesses operating in the territory, which produced 1.58 billion dollars at the end of 2007. Last year, bilateral trade grew by 30% compared to 2006, for a total volume of investments of 730 million dollars. This support is not limited to economic exchange, but is also reflected in the country's defence system: China is providing military assistance to Cambodia, strengthening its marine fleet with nine patrol boats in 2007, and five warships in 2005.

But there is another side to the Chinese presence: human rights and anti-corruption activists denounce an exponential growth in illegal logging, land-grabbing, and worker exploitation, and a dizzying increase in corruption levels. According to Simon Taylor, director of the international group Global Witness, "the effect of lots of money coming in with few strings attached, going to a lot of people in the government, is generally exacerbating corruption".

In the meantime, the Cambodian government has approved the construction of two hydroelectric power plants, to be built by Chinese companies. Work will begin by the end of 2008. The project is opposed by environmentalists, who denounce "serious damage to the country's ecosystem, and risks to the lives of thousands of people". The dams will be constructed in the province of Koh Kong, in the southwest of the country. The project will bring an investment of 540 million dollars from the China National Heavy Machinery Corp., and 495.7 million dollars from the Michelle Corp. It is expected to produce 338 megawatts of electricity.

Investments from Chinese companies are also prompting students in the country to study Mandarin over English (which nevertheless remains the most widespread foreign language), because it is becoming indispensable for business: it represents a fundamental resource for finding a better position in the professional arena, in the sectors of industry and tourism. The most important Chinese school in Cambodia is the Duan Hoa Chinese School in Phnom Penh, subdivided into two different sectors with more than 7,000 enrolled students; the second, the Chhung Cheng Chinese School, is fairly popular among Chinese-Khmer families, and numbers about 2,000 students. The government, finally, expects to add Chinese to the obligatory curriculum of its universities.

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Opposition candidate freed on bail in Cambodia

A Cambodian newspaper editor and opposition candidate has been freed on bail after an outcry from human rights activists.

Dam Sith, a candidate for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, was charged last week with defaming Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in an article about the Khmer Rouge, the regime blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s.

Amnesty International says Dam Sith's arrest demonstrates how the criminal justice system "is used and abused" to silence critics of the government in the runup to the July 27 general election.

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Democrat calls for FM to reveal Cambodia's new map

The Democrat party called on the Foreign Ministry on Sunday to reveal the new border lines for Preah Vihear Temple proposed by Cambodia in its bid to list the temple as a Unesco World Heritage site.

Deputy party leader Alongkorn Polabutr expressed concern the ministry appeared to be withholding details of the Cambodian proposal.

Phnom Penh's bid to make Preah Vihear Temple a protected site reached a stalemate last year when Bangkok objected to a map attached to the proposal.

Bangkok said it included overlapping zones between both countries and they had to be demarcated first.

Several rounds of negotiations followed and Cambodia agreed to propose a new map which Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said did not include the overlapping areas.

He doubted the government would compromise on the issue that could benefit former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was reportedly keen about investing in Koh Kong province in Cambodia.

Alongkorn said the ministry should make the issue transparent by showing details of the map to the public before Unesco considers the Cambodian proposal between July 2 and 10.

The Cabinet is scheduled to endorse Cambodia's new map next week, enabling Phnom Penh to submit its proposal to Unesco.

Thailand and Cambodia claimed ownership of the temple until the World Court ruled in favour of Cambodia in 1962.

Alongkorn said yesterday was the 46th anniversary of that ruling.

It should be noted the World Court ruled that only the temple, not the areas around it, belonged to Cambodia, he said.

A seminar on the controversy was conducted in Si Sa Ket province yesterday, where many panellists expressed doubts on the Thai government's expected admission of Cambodia's new map.

Last week, some residents in Si Sa Ket called for the removal of Cambodian communities from overlapping areas.

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Cabinet to endorse new map, enabling Cambodia to propose temple to Unesco

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
Published on June 14, 2008

The Cabinet will endorse Cambodia's new map next week, enabling Phnom Penh to submit its proposal to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to list the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday.

The military was reportedly dissatisfied with the new map Cambodia sent to Thailand as it encroached on some 10 metres of Thai territory.

"I have worked with Cambodia on the issue and there is no problem now," Noppadon told reporters. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his deputy Sok An were very cooperative in settling the differences, he added.

Thailand and Cambodia have locked horns since Bangkok opposed Phnom Penh's plan to list the temple with 4.6 square kilometres of overlapping area claimed by both sides.

After several rounds of negotiations, Cambodia agreed last month to list only the temple and sent the new drawing of the proposed site for Thailand's consideration.

Residents in northeastern Si Sa Ket province protested, wanting the Cambodian community to be removed from overlapping areas.

Sompong Sucharitkul, former Thai ambassador to The Hague, said the Kingdom had never admitted to Cambodia's sovereignty over the temple despite the International Court of Justice's ruling in 1962 in favour of Cambodia.

The government should not commit to anything that could be deemed as recognition of Cambodia's sovereignty, said the former diplomat, who was close to the case when it was being considered by the court.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the government had handled the case with transparency and would not allow the country to lose any sovereignty over territory.

"We are working on the World Heritage issue, so please do not mix this up with other issues that could complicate the matter and create misunderstandings between the two countries," Tharit said.

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Cambodian Cabinet approves 2 hydroelectric dam projects to be built by Chinese companies

The Associated Press

Published: June 14, 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: The Cambodian Cabinet has approved plans for Chinese companies to build two hydroelectric plants beginning the end of this year, a government official said Saturday.

Environmental groups say the dams threaten the country's ecosystem and the livelihoods of thousands.

Both dams will be located in Koh Kong province in southwestern Cambodia, said Seng Savorn, a spokesman of the Council of Ministers.

China National Heavy Machinery Corp. will take until at least 2014 to complete a US$540 million dam, which should be able to generate up to 246 megawatts of electricity, he said.

Another Chinese company, Michelle Corp., is to build a US$495.7 million dam intended to generate up to 338 megawatts of electricity, he said. The project is due to be completed in 2015.

Electricity generation in Cambodia remains largely undeveloped, with most power plants using fossil fuels. The impoverished Southeast Asian nation also buys electricity from neighboring Vietnam and Thailand.

Power costs in Cambodia are among the highest in the world, and only about 12 percent of its 14 million people have access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

Electricity prices are also a major source of complaint from investors in Cambodia.

In a bid to meet future electricity demand, the government has identified 14 potential hydroelectric dam sites across the country.

Environmentalists have voiced concerns about the impact those projects will have.

In a report earlier this year, U.S.-based International Rivers Network said "poorly conceived hydropower development could irreparably damage" Cambodia.

"Large hydropower projects can incur significant environmental and social costs that risk undermining sustainable development," said the report released in January.

Seng Savorn dismissed the concerns, saying the projects were studied thoroughly before they were approved by the Cabinet.

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Cambodia Intimidates Media, Opposition Before Vote, Groups Say

By Michael Heath

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Cambodia's government, led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, is using the justice system to intimidate journalists and the opposition before next month's general elections, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said.
Dam Sith, a candidate of the Sam Rainsy Party and editor of the Khmer Conscience newspaper, was arrested for questioning the role of Hor Namhong, the foreign minister, during the rule of the Khmer Rouge movement, the groups said in a statement.
The arrest ``demonstrates how the criminal justice system is used and abused to silence government critics,'' said Brittis Edman, a researcher at London-based Amnesty. It ``sends a message of fear to journalists and other media workers in the lead-up to national elections.''
The ruling Cambodian People's Party will repeat its victory of 2003 when elections are held July 27 in the South Asian country of 14 million people, Hun Sen said earlier this week. Sam Rainsy spent a year in exile in France from February 2005, during which he was jailed for 18 months in absentia for defaming the prime minister.
Cambodia's economy expanded 9.6 percent in 2007, after growing by at least 10 percent during the previous three years, according to data compiled by the World Bank.
Hun Sen wants to develop oil and mineral resources to attract international investment and reduce Cambodia's dependence on clothing exports and tourism for growth. About a third of the population live on less than 50 cents a day and 90 percent live in rural areas.
Intimidation Pattern
Dam Sith's arrest is part of a pattern of intimidation against the opposition and independent media in the run-up to the election, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said.
On May 21, Hun Sen threatened the independent Beehive radio station after it broadcast programming from opposition parties, according to the groups. A week later, independent radio station Angkor Ratha had its license, issued less than six months earlier, revoked after it sold air time to opposition parties, the groups said.
Hun Sen said his party may win two-thirds of seats in the 123-member parliament, the Mekong Times reported yesterday.
The party will probably win at least 81 seats, up from 73, and receive 73 percent of the vote versus 64 percent in the 2003 election, the Phnom Penh-based English-language daily cited him as saying. The Sam Rainsy Party won 24 seats in the last ballot.
Hun Sen formed a coalition government in July 2004 with the royalist Funcinpec party, which won 26 seats in 2003.
Opposition Members
Dam Sith, who is running for election in Phnom Penh, was arrested as Hun Sen's CPP presses opposition members to join the party and punishes those who refuse, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said.
In March, police detained local Sam Rainsy Party leader Tuot Saron in Kampong Thom. Tuot Saron is still in detention and faces charges of illegal confinement after seeking to assist a former party colleague following her alleged defection to the CPP, according to the groups.
The court issued arrest warrants against three other local Sam Rainsy Party leaders, who are in hiding after avoiding arrest, the groups said.
Cambodia's attention has been focused on five former leaders of the Khmer Rouge who are facing trial this year at a United Nations-backed genocide tribunal for crimes allegedly committed during the regime's 1975-1979 rule.
The Khmer Rouge forced the population out of cities as it tried to establish an agrarian state, killing an estimated 1.7 million people through starvation, disease or execution.
The regime was ousted when Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia, plunging the country into civil war. Most fighting stopped after the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that called for a cease-fire and democratic elections, which were held in 1993.
Penal Code
Two years after the elections, Cambodia passed a Press Law that provides some protection to journalists, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty said. It's rarely used. Instead, the so-called 1992 UNTAC Law, Cambodia's current penal code, is used in most legal cases against journalists or media representatives.
``There's little room for critical or opposition journalists in Cambodia, and those who express dissent risk harassment, intimidation and, at times, imprisonment,'' Sara Colm, senior researcher at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in the statement.
Dam Sith has been charged with violating articles 62 and 63 of the UNTAC Law. His newspaper, Khmer Conscience, is one of the few in Cambodia that is not affiliated with the government or the CPP, which controls all television and most radio stations.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net.

Anniversary of Preah Vihear ruling to be held at in Cambodia

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-12 10:32:39



PHNOM PENH, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Khmer Civilization Support Association (KCSA) has announced its celebration of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s 1962 ruling that Preah Vihear belongs to Cambodia rather than Thailand, will be held Sunday at Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh, local newspaper the Mekong Times reported Thursday.
"The ceremony is being held in gratitude to our Cambodian ancestors who built Preah Vihear," said the KCSA statement, adding that it was also dedicated to former King Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodian head of state when the ICJ ruling was made.
The ceremony is also being held to thank the Cambodian government for maintaining sovereignty and integrity until the temple is registered as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site list, said the KSCA.
The UN body will discuss the temple's listing at talks to be held early next month in Quebec.
The KSCA announcement comes as the Thai government studies in detail a new drawing of the temple grounds that Cambodia submitted last week.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungwat told The Bangkok Post Wednesday that further talks between Thai and Cambodian officials are needed because the Cambodian map of the area slightly differs from the border map used by Thailand, the Mekong Times said.
Pai Siphan, spokesman for the Cambodian Council of Ministers, said Wednesday that the term "map" as opposed to "drawing" was causing confusion.
"We use the word drawing, as it was a drawing submitted to UNESCO and Thailand. We have sent the drawing to the Thai side and they approved it," he said.
He added that, according to Cambodian law, the legal premises of each temple are adjudged to be 30 meters starting from the base of its outer buildings.
"Currently Preah Vihear temple fences are too near the gate of the temple, which indicates that Thailand has moved its border markers into Cambodian territory," said the spokesman.
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Call to oppose Cambodia may lead to unnecessary rift

By comment & analysis
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
Published on June 12, 2008

Democrat Party deputy leader Alongkorn Pollabutr appeared to have misled some people and may be sparking unnecessary rifts with Cambodia when he suggested the government should remain opposed to Phnom Penh's move to list the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage site.

If entertained, such a suggestion could mean a revision of an agreement that Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An sealed in Paris last month.

Thailand and Cambodia had locked horns since last year when Bangkok opposed a Cambodian proposal to list the temple as a Unesco (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage site as Phnom Penh had annexed 4.6 square kilometres of overlapping area claimed by both sides.

After rounds of negotiation since the previous government, Cambodia finally agreed to propose listing only the temple that is clearly under its sovereignty.

The Cambodian authority had sent a new map of its annexation to Thailand for consideration and Bangkok was expected to find it satisfactory.

The Cabinet will endorse the map soon to enable Cambodia to submit its proposal to be listed as a protected site when the Unesco heritage committee meets in Canada next month.

The opposition Democrats blamed the government for mishandling the case.

Allowing Cambodia to list the temple means giving up Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear, they said.

Sompong Sucharitkul, former Thai ambassador to The Hague who said he was close to the case when the conflict was in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), wrote in an article that Thailand had never conceded that the temple belonged to Cambodia despite the court's ruling in 1962.

It was right that the Thai government at the time announced its disagreement to the ICJ's ruling in favour of Cambodia.

But such an announcement contradicted the action since the Cabinet on July 10, 1962, agreed to hand the temple to Cambodia.

Thai authorities then withdrew troops from the temple and removed Thai nationals out of the area.

Sompong's statement that the current government should not change its position and recognise Cambodian sovereignty over Preah Vihear could be somewhat misleading since it had de facto already changed its position and recognised Cambodia's sovereignty 46 years ago.

De jury, the ICJ's ruling in 1962 was deemed the final decision and there was no appeal procedure.

Thailand has the right to ask for a revision only if it finds some new evidence, but such rights lasted only 10 years after the ruling.

The foreign minister at the time was Thanat Khoman and he was also a former Democrat leader.

He reserved the right to refile the case if there is a new international law relating to the case in favour of Thailand. More than four decades on, no such new law had emerged.

The rush to discredit the government by ignoring and tinkering with historical fact to shore up nationalistic sentiment is not healthy for Thailand since such sentiment may lead to negative terms with that country and escalate into what could be a needless conflict. Any misunderstanding with Cambodia should be avoided around this time since Cambodia is to hold a general election next month.

If some Cambodian parties decide to pick on the issue of Preah Vihear to whip up anti-Thai sentiment for their own gains, it could cause a lot of trouble and perhaps strain cordial relations.

Thailand has already learned a valuable lesson that just a false statement over Khmer temples could lead to its embassy being gutted in January 2003.

The fire went beyond the embassy grounds, igniting an anti-Thai rampage that destroyed Thai properties and interests in that country, some of which cannot be compensated by money alone.

Diplomatically speaking, cooperation with Cambodia is certainly more sensible than pushing for a response.

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Cambodia: Release Jailed Editor

Journalists and Opposition Members Under Attack as Elections Near

(London, June 11, 2008) – The Cambodian government should release a jailed opposition newspaper editor and candidate, and end its intimidation of journalists and opposition party candidates in the lead-up to National Assembly elections in July, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.

On June 8, military police arrested newspaper editor Dam Sith, 39, who is also running as a candidate for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), after his newspaper published allegations about the current foreign minister.

“Dam Sith’s arrest demonstrates how the criminal justice system is used and abused to silence government critics,” said Brittis Edman, researcher for Amnesty International. “His arrest sends a message of fear to journalists and other media workers in the lead-up to national elections next month.”

Dam Sith’s newspaper, Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience), quoted allegations by opposition leader Sam Rainsy over the role of the current minister of foreign affairs, Hor Namhong, during the period of Khmer Rouge rule from 1975-1979. Hor Namhong filed a criminal complaint against Dam Sith for disinformation, defamation and libel under Cambodia’s 1992 penal code. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International believe that public officials who consider themselves defamed should not seek redress through the criminal law in order to protect their reputation.

Moneaksekar Khmer is one of the few newspapers in Cambodia that is not affiliated with the government or the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which also controls all television and most radio stations.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said that the arrest of Dam Sith is part of a pattern of intimidation by the government against opposition and independent media in the run-up to the July elections. On May 21, Hun Sen threatened the independent Beehive radio station for running programming from opposition parties, stating: “You have one channel; we have 39 channels. If you curse me, you will receive bad merit. Those who [previously] cursed me already disappeared from the world.”

On May 28, the government shut down independent radio station Angkor Ratha (FM 105.25) in Kratie province. The station, whose headquarters is in Siem Reap province, was granted a license to broadcast in January 2008. The Ministry of Information abruptly cancelled the license for the station’s Kratie broadcasts after it sold air time to opposition parties.

“There’s little room for critical or opposition journalists in Cambodia, and those who express dissent risk harassment, intimidation and, at times, imprisonment,” said Sara Colm, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodian authorities to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression, allowing journalists to report news and express opinions about politics without retribution.

Dam Sith, who is running as an opposition candidate in the capital Phnom Penh, was arrested in the midst of an intense campaign by the ruling CPP to induce opposition members to join the CPP and punish those who refuse. In March 2008, police arrested and detained local opposition SRP leader Tuot Saron in Kampong Thom. Tuot Saron is still detained and faces charges of illegal confinement after seeking to assist a distressed former party colleague following her alleged defection to the CPP under controversial circumstances. The court issued arrest warrants against three other local SRP leaders, who avoided arrest and remain in hiding.

“Arrests and other politically motivated legal actions are being used to intimidate, coerce and silence opposition members and journalists,” said Colm. “With elections pending, it’s crucial that Cambodians are able to receive information from a variety of news sources, and that opposition candidates are able to campaign without fear of reprisals.”

The right to freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Cambodian Constitution and enshrined in international human rights law. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Cambodia is obliged to promote and protect these rights and ensure that people can fully enjoy them.

The 1995 Press Law provides for some protection of journalists, but is rarely used. Instead, the so-called 1992 UNTAC Law, Cambodia’s current penal code, is used in most legal cases against journalists or media representatives. These cases often violate the right to freedom of expression.

Dam Sith has been charged with violating articles 62 and 63 of the UNTAC Law. Article 62 criminalizes the publication, distribution or reproduction of false information that “has disturbed or is likely to disturb the public peace.” Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch consider the provision to be too vague and sweeping, enabling the government to intimidate and prosecute those who are exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Article 63 provides that allegations against public figures “which the author, the journalist, editor, or producer knows to be false” may constitute defamation. The article does not carry a custodial sentence. This article also restricts the right to freedom of expression in violation of international law and standards.

“It is time for Cambodia to repeal provisions in its laws that allow individuals, including journalists, to be criminally prosecuted for peaceful speech,” said Edman.

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Cambodian PM blasts alleged drug use comment by opposition party

www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-10 09:22:21

PHNOM PENH, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun has strongly refuted alleged accusations by the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) that he had used drugs, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodian Daily said Tuesday.

SRP defectors told him that party president Sam Rainsy had said that the premier's cigarettes were laced with drugs, the paper quoted Hun Sen as telling recent ceremonies.

"If I smoked drugs, they would have already died. If I used drugs, I would have ordered tanks to destroy them. I could order the military to kill them because I would have a mental problem if I were drug-addicted," he said.

"Drug-addicted people, they even attack their parents," he said.

Meanwhile, Sam Rainsy denied that he had made such remarks.

Both Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and SRP have been approved to join the general election in July, which will establish the kingdom's fourth government.

Hun Sen said that CPP will score landslide victory, while SRP vowed that it can win premiership.
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PREAH VIHEAR TEMPLE

NSC satisfied with new map

WASSANA NANUAM

The National Security Council (NSC) is satisfied with the new version of the border map of the Preah Vihear temple site re-drawn by Cambodia, but says a field survey is still needed to verify all the details.
Experts from the Royal Thai Survey Department will conduct a joint survey with Cambodian officials to make sure the new map does not include the overlapping areas, the source of the long-running dispute between the two countries since the International Court of Justice's ruling that the ancient temple belonged to Cambodia.
The NSC's decision was announced following its meeting yesterday. After the completion of the survey, the matter will be forwarded for cabinet consideration before Thailand replies to Cambodia whether it agrees with the new map, said Tharit Jarungwat, chief of the Department of Information under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The map was re-drawn and handed to Thailand last Thursday following an agreement between the two countries to do so during a Unesco-brokered meeting in Paris late last month.
If Thailand approves it, Cambodia will use the map in applying with Unesco _ the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation _ for registration of the temple as a World Heritage site early next month in Canada.
Supreme Commander Gen Boonsrang Niempradit said in most part the redrawn map by Cambodia was in line with what Thailand wanted, and the disagreements that still remained only involved some minute details.
''The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be handling the remaining problems [the disagreed part] so that relations between the two countries are not affected,'' Gen Boonsang said.
He expects the two countries to soon reach a deal on the issue.
But an agreement on the joint development and management of the area could be signed in future, he said.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama earlier said that according to the new map only the temple and 30 metres of its adjacent areas would be put up for listing.
Cambodia's previous proposal to Unesco also included the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre border between Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district and Preah Vihear province for listing.

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Newspaper publisher arrested in Cambodia

Cambodia's human rights group Licadho says the publisher of a newspaper known to support the main opposition Sam Rainsy Party is in custody after his surprise arrest on Sunday.

Dam Sith publishes the newspaper Moneakseka Khmer, or Khmer Conscience. He's been charged with printing allegations that Cambodia's foreign minister had ties to the Khmer Rouge regime. Cambodia watchers say Prime Minister Hun Sen's used a mix of guile and threat to turn the July 27 polls into an undemocratic one horse race.

Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speaker: Licadho spokeswoman Kek Galabru

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UN extends breakfast program for Cambodian schools

By KER MUNTHIT –

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Last minute funding to buy rice has allowed the U.N. World Food Program to resume free breakfast for hundreds of thousands of Cambodian children, the agency said Monday.
The program ended this month because of rising rice prices. But a $5.4 million infusion from WFP headquarters in Rome meant an extension through the end of the school year on July 5, said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the WFP in Bangkok.
Thomas Keusters, the WFP's program director for Cambodia, said he was "delighted" after receiving the news.
"We're going to deliver food to all 1,344 schools so that the school-feeding program can continue until the 5th of July," he said Monday.
Classes will resume in October and Keusters said the fate of the meal program "will very much depend on the donations we will receive in the coming weeks and months."
Facing a budget shortfall because of the rising cost of food, the U.N.'s food agency said three months ago that breakfast stocks at Cambodian schools would run out before mid-June. Five local suppliers defaulted on contracts to provide rice because they could get higher prices elsewhere, program officials said.
It was just one of many WFP programs facing cuts amid a $755 million shortfall in the U.N. agency's budget. But in recent days, the WFP received a $500 million donation from Saudi Arabia along with a total of $300 million from the United States, Australia and Europe.
Cambodian school officials, some of whom ended their program and others who were about to, expressed joy about the latest news.
"I am very happy if that is true," said Nheng Vorn, principal of Choumpou Proek school, about 40 miles west of the capital, Phnom Penh.
His school's rice supply ran out May 27, and the staff cooked the last 64 pounds of peas on Friday for the students.
About six miles from Nheng Vorn's school, the Sangkum Seksa school was set to end its meal program this week.
"But maybe there will be no need to close it if we will really get more rice," the school's principal Tan Sak said.

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Cambodia's Sihanouk says his son may abdicate

Phnom Penh (dpa) - Cambodia's former king Norodom Sihanouk hinted Friday that his son, King Norodom Sihamoni, may be considering abdicating to live a "simple life" in France.
In a letter posted on his website received Friday and dated Thursday, the octogenarian former monarch outlined a conversation he said he had had with Sihamoni on the day of writing.
"My beloved son told me, 'Papa, please do not worry - your darling son could return to Paris and live a normal life'," Sihanouk wrote in French on his blog.
"I will hire a small room and stay with my wife, have a simple bathroom and eat simple food I can buy from a simple shop," Sihanouk quoted his son as saying.
Sihamoni is currently a bachelor.
He also said Sihamoni would refuse contact with journalists.
In the letter, entitled 'The Real Story', Sihanouk warned of a possible upcoming upheaval in the monarchy.
Sihanouk shocked many when he abdicated in 2004, citing advancing age and ill-health, and Sihamoni, previously an ambassador to the United Nations Education Scentific and Cultural Organization and a classical dancer before his ascension to the throne, took the reigns.
Fluent in French and Czech, Sihamoni, 55, was initially little known to ordinary Cambodians due to his long overseas career but has earned adoration in a country which recognizes kings as demi-gods.
He has eschewed politics, unlike his mercurial father during certain periods of his reign, who strutted the world stage.
Sihamoni's half-brother and Sihanouk's son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, is currently in exile after being convicted for breach of trust in absentia and sentenced to 18 months in jail for his role in selling the headquarters of his former political party, Funcinpec.

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Cambodian kids enjoy last free breakfast as U.N. food aid ends

By Ker Munthit, AP
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Students at a rural elementary school in Cambodia enjoyed their last free breakfasts in class after the United Nations World Food Program stopped supplying rice and other food because of soaring global prices.
Besides directly providing nutrition for children, the WFP breakfasts have provided an incentive for parents to send their children to school rather than sending them to work in the fields or stay home to look after younger siblings.
WFP said Wednesday that the program will be resumed later, probably around October, as the agency provides US$1.2 billion (euro763 million) in new assistance to help tens of millions of people in 62 nations hardest hit by the food crisis.
Meanwhile, though, Cambodia educators must convince parents to keep their children in the classroom.
The principal of Choumpou Proek school, about 43 miles (70 kilometers) west of the capital Phnom Penh, said he has been meeting with village leaders and families to encourage children to keep going to school, even without the benefit of extra nourishment.
The free breakfast program in Cambodia began in 2000 and has recently been benefiting about 450,000 rural students. The World Food Program feeds almost 89 million people worldwide, including 58.8 million children.
Choumpou Proek principal Nheng Vorn -- who did not know the program is supposed to be restarted -- said his 612 students enjoyed a final free breakfast of steamed yellow split peas with salt -- but no rice.
The school's rice supply ran out May 27, so staff cooked the last 64 pounds (29 kilograms) of peas for the students, Nheng Vorn said by telephone from the school in a village in Kampong Speu province. The WFP also provided soybeans and cooking oil.
Even though the school is in a rice-growing area, the farms cannot produce enough of the staple to feed the entire community. WFP selected schools in poorest communities for the breakfast program.
The U.N.'s food agency said three months ago that breakfast stocks at the 1,344 rural schools under its program would run out before mid June, and stopped sending rice supplies in March.
The cutoff began after five local suppliers defaulted on contracts to provide rice because they could get a higher price elsewhere, program officials said.
The price of rice tripled in the first four months of the year as the world food crisis deepened.
Soaring fuel prices have driven up the costs of fertilizers, farm vehicle use and transporting food to markets. Speculation and increased consumption of meat and dairy goods in China, India and other booming developing nations are also considered major factors in the food price hikes.
About six miles (10 kilometers) from Nheng Vorn's school, Sangkum Seksa school principal Tan Sak said his students have been eating breakfasts of steamed peas with salt since their WFP rice ran out two weeks ago.
The school's kitchen will shut down next week when the peas run out, he said.
Similar situations were occurring around the country and all over the developing world.
In Burundi, Kenya and Zambia, hundreds of thousands of people face cuts in food rations after June. In Iraq, 500,000 recipients will likely lose food aid. In Yemen, it's 320,000 households, including children and the sick.
Most, if not all, will now benefit from WFP's newly announced commitment to renew aid.
Coco Ushiyama, WFP's acting director for Cambodia, said in an interview last month that it was "really a tough decision" to end school food aid in favor of continuing programs benefiting orphans of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, who are in "more desperate need" of food aid. She expressed concern that the end of free breakfasts could reverse gains already made in trying to improve education for rural children.

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U.S. pays to rebuild temple in Cambodia

Calgary Herald
Published: Sunday, June 08, 2008
restoration - A sacred temple in the historic Cambodian city of Angkor has received a $978,700 US grant to undergo the second phase of a restoration project.
The World Monuments Fund received the grant from the U.S. State Department and will use the money to rebuild and stabilize the severely damaged east elevation at Phnom Bakheng, the oldest temple in the city, fund spokeswoman Holly Evarts said in a telephone interview.
The temple, built by Khmer King Yasyovarman I in 907 AD, represents Mount Mehru, the mythical home of Hindu gods. Perched on the highest point of the Angkor alluvial plain, its stunning sunsets attract hundreds of tourists daily.

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Controversial Russian company starts developing resort on Cambodian island

The Associated Press
Published: June 7, 2008

A Russian company broke ground Saturday on a US$472 million island resort project along Cambodia's southwest coast, despite one of its partners being jailed in the country for alleged sex crimes.
Prime Minister Hun Sen presided over a ceremony marking the start of work on a 2,970-foot (900-meter) bridge that will link Koh Puos — Snake Island — with a coastal beach in the port city of Sihanoukville.
Cambodia's government signed a deal with Koh Puos Investment Group Ltd. in 2006 that allows it to develop and manage resorts on the island for 99 years.
The company is run by a group of Russian businessmen, according to its Web site.
Alexey Chepa, an executive with the company, said at the groundbreaking ceremony that the total project represented a US$472 million investment, a substantial increase from the US$300 million originally announced in 2006. He did not give details of the project but said the investment would create up to 25,000 jobs.
One of the group's partners, Alexander Trofimov, was sentenced in March by a Cambodian court to 13 years in prison on charges of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl.
Trofimov was arrested last October over allegations that he had abused as many as 19 girls since 2005, but was charged only in the case of the 14-year-old. He has denied the accusation.
Cambodian Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said the bridge will cost about US$31.3 million and be completed at the end of 2010.
He said it will help develop Koh Puos "into a world-class resort."
Son Chhay, an opposition lawmaker, criticized the government for pressing ahead with the project instead of taking time to investigate the company's background after one of its partners was jailed.
"The government must be more open on how they struck the deal with the Russians," said Son Chhay, of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party.
The new resort is part of impoverished Cambodia's efforts to promote the country's beaches as a new tourist destination and a key source of cash, following the success it has had in drawing visitors to its famed Angkor temples.
Sihanoukville is about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.

On the Net:
Koh Puos (Cambodia) Investment Group Ltd.: http://www.kohpuos.com/

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Cambodian economic growth to drop to 7% in 2008

PHNOM PENH, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian economic performance remains robust though the pace of growth is expected to ease to around seven percent in 2008, down from over 10 percent last year, local media reported Monday.
According to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) statement released recently, the drop in economic growth to around seven percent this year mirrors slowing growth in the garment sector, the Mekong Times newspaper quoted the IMF as saying.
Garment exports are under pressure because of a decrease in international demand and intensified regional competition, the IMF said.
Cambodia's garment industry is a major contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) with 301 factories and over 340,000 workers exporting 2.9 billion U.S. dollars worth of garments last year.
"Tourism continues to expand at a healthy pace," the IMF stated, adding that with the Tourism Ministry reporting around two million tourists visiting Cambodia last year generating a total revenue of 1.4 billion U.S. dollars.
Cambodia's tourism industry accounts for 15 percent of GDP and employs tens of thousands, indirectly benefiting many more.
Cambodia, as a net rice exporter, should benefit from higher rice prices, the IMF said, but it warned higher food prices will adversely affect the most vulnerable, particularly the urban poor and the landless.
An IMF staff mission led by Luis Valdivieso, visited Cambodia from May 28 to June 5, to hold discussions with senior officials of the Cambodian government on macroeconomic developments and policies.
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