KI Media: “Violence erupts around Syria, protesters shot” plus 21 more

Violence erupts around Syria, protesters shot

Posted: 25 Mar 2011 11:45 AM PDT

(Photo AFP)

People gather outside the main courthouse in the southern Syrian city of Deraa. (Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri)

Friday, March 25, 2011
By ZEINA KARAM and BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria – Violence erupted around Syria on Friday as troops opened fire on protesters in several cities and pro- and anti-government crowds clashed on the tense streets of the capital in the most widespread unrest in years, witnesses said.

Soldiers shot at demonstrators in the restive southern city of Daraa after crowds set fire to a bronze statue of the country's late president, Hafez Assad, a resident told The Associated Press. He said he heard heavy gunfire in the city center and later saw two bodies and many wounded people being brought to Daraa's main hospital.

He said thousands of enraged protesters snatched some weapons from a far smaller number of troops and chased them out of the Roman-era old city, taking back control of the al-Omari mosque, which has been the epicenter of eight days of protests in Dara.

Two other residents confirmed to The Associated Press by telephone that protests had retaken the mosque and surrounding area.

The violence erupted after tens of thousands of Syrians took to the streets across the country after Friday prayers, shouting calls for greater freedoms in support of a more than week-long uprising in Daraa, according to witnesses, activists and footage posted online.

The demonstrations and ensuing crackdown were a major escalation of the showdown between President Bashar Assad's regime and the crowds in Daraa who — inspired by pro-democracy unrest elsewhere in the Arab world — began protesting conditions in the drought-stricken south last week in demonstrations that have now spread around the country.

After dark, troops opened fire on protesters in Maadamiyeh, a suburb of the capital, Damascus, a witness told the AP. An activist in contact with people there said three had been killed.

Another activist told the AP that witnesses in the National Hospital in the coastal city of Latakia had reported seeing four people shot dead. Another was reported slain in the central city of Homs, he said.

None of the accounts could be immediately be independently confirmed in Syria, which maintains tight restrictions on the press.

In Damascus, people shouting in support of the Daraa protesters clashed with regime supporters outside the historic Umayyad mosque, hitting each other with leather belts.

An activist in Damascus in touch with eyewitnesses in the southern village of Sanamein said troops there opened fire on demonstrators trying to march to Daraa, a short distance away. He said there had been witness reports of fatalities, some claiming as many as 20 slain, but those could not be independently confirmed.

A video posted on Facebook by Syrian pro-democracy activists showed what it said were five dead young men lying on stretchers as men weeped around them. The voice of a woman can be heard saying "down with Bashar Assad."

The White House urged Syria's government to cease attacks on protesters and Turkey said its neighbor should quickly enact reforms to meet legitimate demands.

An unidentified Syrian official asserted that an armed group attacked the army headquarters in Sanamein and tried to storm it, leading to a clash with guards.

The official told the state-run news agency SANA said security forces would pursue what it described as armed people who are terrorizing citizens and trying to destabilize the country.

Much of Damascus was tense, with convoys of young people roaming the streets in their cars, honking incessantly and waving out pictures of Bashar Assad and Syrian flags. The convoys briefly blocked streets in some areas.

About 200 people demonstrated after the Friday prayers at the Thawra Bridge, near the central Marjeh Square, chanting "our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you Daraa!" and "freedom! freedom!" They were chased by security forces who beat them some of them with batons and detained others, an activist said on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

Thousands flooded Daraa's central Assad Square before the shooting broke out, many from nearby villages, chanting "Freedom! Freedom!" and waving Syrian flags and olive branches, a resident told The Associated Press by telephone.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, he claimed that more than 50,000 people were shouting slogans decrying presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban, who promised Thursday that the government would consider a series of reforms in response to a week of unrest in Daraa.

A human rights activist, quoting witnesses, said thousands of people gathered in the town of Douma outside the capital, Damascus, pledging support for the people of Daraa. The activists asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.

Security forces dispersed the crowd by chasing them away, beating some with batons and detaining others, an activist said, asking that his name not be published for fear of reprisals by the government.

In the city of Aleppo, hundreds of worshippers came out of mosques shouting "with our lives, our souls, we sacrifice for you Bashar" and "Only God, Syria and Bashar!"

Residents in Homs said hundreds of people demonstrated in support of Daraa and demanded reforms.

The activist said that in Latakia, more than 1,000 people marched in the streets after Friday prayers. In the northern city of Raqqa, scores marched and several people were detained, he said.

And in the western city of Zabadani, near the border with Lebanon, several people were detained after protesting, he said.

Journalists who tried to enter Daraa's Old City — where most of the violence took place — were escorted out of town Friday by two security vehicles.

"As you can see, everything is back to normal and it is over," an army major, standing in front of the ruling Baath party head office in Daraa, told journalists before they were led out of the city.

Security forces appeared to be trying to reduce tension in Daraa by dismantling checkpoints and ensuring there was no visible army presence on the streets for the first time since last Friday, when the protests began.

Rattled by the unrest, the Syrian government Thursday pledged to consider lifting some of the Mideast's most repressive laws in an attempt to stop the weeklong uprising from spreading and threatening its nearly 50-year rule.

But the promises were immediately rejected by many activists who called for demonstrations around the country on Friday in response to a crackdown that protesters say killed dozens of anti-government marchers in Daraa.

"We will not forget the martyrs of Daraa," a resident told The Associated Press by telephone. "If they think this will silence us they are wrong."

Assad, a close ally of Iran and its regional proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, has promised increased freedoms for discontented citizens and increased pay and benefits for state workers — a familiar package of incentives offered by other nervous Arab regimes in recent weeks.

Shaaban, the presidential adviser, also said the Baath party would study ending a state of emergency that it put in place after taking power in 1963.

The emergency laws, which have been a feature of many Arab countries, allow people to be arrested without warrants and imprisoned without trial. Human rights groups say violations of other basic liberties are rife in Syria, with torture and abuse common in police stations, detention centers and prisons, and dissenters regularly imprisoned for years without due process.

The death toll from the weeklong crackdown was unclear and could not be independently confirmed, although activists say it was in the dozens before Friday and could have been as high as 100. Shaaban said 34 people had been killed in the conflict.

_____

Mroue reported from Beirut, Lebanon. Michael Weissenstein in Cairo contributed.

I want Sam Rainsy as a partner, but I want SRP activists to defect to my party more: Kem Sokha, an opportunist leader?

Posted: 25 Mar 2011 11:28 AM PDT

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Opposition dilemma

Friday, 25 March 2011
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha has invited members of the Kingdom's largest opposition group, the Sam Rainsy Party, to defect to the HRP following the announcement this week that ex-SRP lawmaker Mao Monyvann would join the party.

Mao Monyvann, formerly an SRP parliamentarian from Kampong Cham province, resigned from his post earlier this month before holding a press conference this week to criticise the SRP leadership, accusing lawmakers Yim Sovann and Eng Chhay Eang of wielding excessive control over the party. In the aftermath of his comments, the SRP asked him to resign from the party and he joined the HRP.

SRP head Sam Rainsy now lives abroad to avoid a pair of jail terms totalling 12 years that were handed down against him last year in connection with a protest he staged at the Vietnamese border in 2009. He was stripped of his parliamentary seat earlier this month as a result of his convictions.

"The HRP will become the biggest opposition party in Cambodia if Sam Rainsy cannot return," Kem Sokha said.

"We do not want him to be absent – I want to have him here as a partner," Kem Sokha added. "But if he is not present, I believe the HRP will play an important role in pressing for a change from the current leadership."

Yim Sovann said Kem Sokha was "dreaming" if he thought the HRP could become the Kingdom's largest opposition party, noting that the HRP only holds three seats in the National Assembly compared with the SRP's 25.

The spat raises questions about the proposed merger between the parties, which have been in talks for months but have yet to reach an agreement.

Merger talks between the HRP and SRP have stalled in part due to disagreements about the leadership structure of a unified party. SRP lawmaker Son Chhay said yesterday that his party was still committed to the negotiations, but that Mao Monyvann's public criticisms this week had prompted a reassessment of the proposal.

"The HRP used Mao Monyvann's attack and broadcasted it on the radio, and it is not right to act this way," Son Chhay said.

Senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said the recent bickering among the opposition parties showed that a merger was unlikely.

"They cannot live together, and it has been this way for a long time," he said. "The SRP has 25 parliamentarians and they do not allow a party with three parliamentarians to control them."

Cops put down Boeung Kak protesters in front of Phnom Penh city hall

Posted: 25 Mar 2011 01:54 AM PDT

(All photos: CEN)

25 March 2011
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Soch

At least one protester was arrested by the cops and three others passed out from the cops' violence which took place when about 100 Boeung Kak residents were waiting the outcome of their request for 15-hectare of land to perform their own development in place. The city hall is supposed to provide an answer to this request on this Fraiday.

Mrs. Ly Mom, a representative of Boeung Kak residents, told reporters that numerous resident representatives were forced into police trucks, but other residents attempted to pull them back out. However, Kong Chantha, a representative of the residents, was arrested and taken to the Phnom Penh police station, but she was later brought back by a UN OHCHR car.

Regarding this issue, Am Sam Ath, an official for the Licadho human rights group, who was conducting his investigation at the incident location, declared that the police violence against peaceful protesters is a human rights violation against people who live under a democratic regime.

Boeung Kak residents have protested on many occasions already following the government's decision to give away 133-hectare of Boeung Kak area to the Shukaku Inc. for a 99-year lease. The Shukaku Inc. belongs the CPP tycoon-senator Lao Meng Khin.

Tolakar Kanh-chraung - The fox's court: A Poem in Khmer by Khmer Sachak

Posted: 25 Mar 2011 12:14 AM PDT

Double jeopardy for opposition leader Sam Rainsy: Summons for defamation and disinformation case against Sam Rainsy

Posted: 25 Mar 2011 12:11 AM PDT

The Phnom Penh municipal court issued a summons against opposition leader Sam Rainsy under the charge of defamation and disinformation. The event took place on 17 April 2008 at Choeung Ek Memorial Center where Mr. Sam Rainsy declared that Keat Chhon, the CPP minister of Finance, and Hor 5 Hong, the CPP minister of Foreign Affairs, were former Khmer Rouge cadres.

A lawsuit case was brought up by Hor 5 Hong to the French tribunal which decided that Hor 5 Hong won. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy was ordered to pay 1 euro ($1.42) in damage compensation to Hor 5 Hong.

Now the Phnom Penh municipal court is also charging opposition leader Sam Rainsy on this same lawsuit case.

Children education in Kampong Luong, Krakor district, Pursat province

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 11:51 PM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nowq7fhi--0&feature=channel_video_title

Stone carving in Pursat

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 11:47 PM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5_AIwI-ZGQ&feature=player_embedded

Thailand Still Wants Border Watchers [-Does Thailand know what it wants?]

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 11:44 PM PDT

March 25, 2011
Ismira Lutfia & Camelia Pasandaran
AFP

The Foreign Ministry has not received any formal notification from Thailand that it rejects an Asean plan to send Indonesian observers to the disputed Thai-Cambodia border, a spokesman said on Thursday.

"We have not received a formal communication from our counterpart, the Thai Foreign Ministry, on the matter," ministry spokesman Michael Tene told the Jakarta Globe.

Thailand's army chief, General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, said on Wednesday that the observers were not wanted in the disputed area near an 11th-century temple because it was too dangerous and would only complicate matters.

Prayut said the Thai defense ministry, armed forces and military commanders rejected the idea of outside monitors, but conceded it was up to the government to decide.

A Thai government spokesman denied, however, that there had been any change in Bangkok's position, and said a joint border committee would be convened to iron out the details of the observers' mission.

At the Presidential Palace, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia would only proceed with the plan if it was invited by both Cambodia and Thailand to send its observers.

"The options [for Cambodia and Thailand] are clear. Either it is handled by Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] or the UN Security Council," he said.

A meeting of foreign ministers from Asean in Jakarta last month decided on a regional plan to send Indonesian observers to both sides of the disputed border to ensure that a cease-fire agreed to by the two countries was respected. Both countries had agreed to accept the observers.

Marty said at the time that the decision reflected Asean's and both countries' confidence in Indonesia, and that despite existing cynicism, Indonesia could play a role in mediating conflict between Asean member states.

Indonesia has sent its proposed terms of reference that lay out the scope of mandate for the observer teams and has prepared teams to be stationed on each side of the border, each comprised of 13 unarmed military officers and two civilians from the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry.

The ministry said earlier this month that it had received favorable responses from both countries of the proposed terms. However, further details were to be laid out soon, such as identifying the working areas for the observer teams to monitor.

Another meeting between Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand on the matter is slated to take place in Indonesia sometime in April.

Michael said the teams would be deployed as soon as the terms were finalized.

"Both countries have agreed on most of the references, but there are still one or two matters that they have yet to agree on."

Burma quake death toll tops 60

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 11:31 PM PDT

25/03/2011
AFP

More than 60 people were killed and 90 injured when a strong earthquake struck Burma near its border with Thailand, an official said Friday, as some affected areas remained cut off.

More than 60 people were killed and 90 injured after a strong earthquake struck Myanmar near its border with Thailand, an official said Friday, as some affected areas remained cut off.

The earthquake on Thursday, which the US Geological Survey (USGS) measured at magnitude 6.8, was felt as far away as Bangkok, almost 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China.

A Burma official said dozens of people were killed in areas close to the epicentre and more than 240 buildings had collapsed.

"The death toll has increased to more than 60 now from those areas including Tarlay, Mine Lin and Tachileik townships," said the official.

"About 90 people were injured from those areas. The officials are still trying to reach some more affected areas. There are some places we cannot reach yet."

Tremors were felt as far away as Bangkok, almost 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China.

Just across the border from Tachileik, Thai authorities said a 52-year-old woman was killed in Mae Sai district after a wall of her house collapsed.

Terrified residents across the region fled their homes, tall buildings swayed and hospitals and schools were evacuated during the tremors.

The quake struck 90 kilometres (60 miles) north of Chiang Rai and 235 kilometres (150 miles) north-northeast of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city and a popular tourist destination. Tall buildings shuddered in Bangkok during the tremor.

Its epicentre was close to the borders with Thailand and Laos and was just 10 kilometres (six miles) deep.

Thailand's meteorological department on Friday said it had registered six large aftershocks following the initial quake.

Chiang Rai governor Somchai Hatayatanti told AFP late Thursday that efforts were made to evacuate people from tall buildings and he had ordered all patients from Mae Sai District Hospital to be taken to Chiang Rai.

The shaking was felt throughout China's southwest province of Yunnan, according to state-run China National Radio, but no casualties or structural collapses had been reported as of Friday morning.

However, the earthquake reportedly caused cracks in some homes and schools in and around the rugged Xishuangbanna region which borders Burma, and fear of aftershocks forced many people in the area to spend the night outdoors.

Some residents of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi fled their homes in panic when the quake shook the city.

Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, 36, who lives on the 10th floor of a highrise, said her husband noticed their pet fish shaking in their tank.

"We all rushed to the street. All the other people in the apartments also rushed out," she said.

Hanoi felt the tremor at about magnitude 5.0, according to Dinh Quoc Van, deputy head of the earthquake monitoring department.

The quake comes two weeks after Japan was hit by a monster earthquake, which unleashed a devastating tsunami that left around 27,000 people dead or missing and triggered a crisis at its Fukushima nuclear plant.

No tsunami warning was issued after the Burma quake as US seismologists said it was too far inland to generate a devastating wave in the Indian Ocean.

The USGS initially recorded the quake as magnitude 7.0, but later revised it down to 6.8.

6.8-magnitude earthquake on Thai-Burmese border kills more than 40

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 11:28 PM PDT

Friday, March 25, 2011
Aye Aye Win
The Associated Press

YANGON, MYANMAR—A strong earthquake that toppled homes in northeastern Burma has killed more than 40 people, and there were fears Friday the toll would mount as conditions in more remote areas became known.

The Thursday night quake, measured at a magnitude 6.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey, was centred just north of the town Tachileik in the mountains along the Thai border, but was felt hundreds of kilometres away in the Thai capital Bangkok and Vietnamese capital Hanoi.

Burma state radio announced Friday that 41 people had been killed and 48 injured in the quake. It said 244 houses, 14 Buddhist monasteries and nine government buildings were damaged.

An official from the U.N.'s World Food Program said there were many casualties and serious damage in Mong Lin village, eight kilometres from Tachileik. State radio said 29 were killed there and 16 injured.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that 15 houses collapsed in the village of Tarlay, where state radio said 11 were killed and 29 injured. Another U.N. official said a small hospital there was partially damaged as well as a bridge, making it difficult to access the village.

The newspaper said another two people were killed in Tachileik, including a 4-year-old boy. It said six people were injured in the town, which is just across the border from Mae Sai in Thailand's Chiang Rai province.

In Mae Sai, one woman was killed when a wall fell on her, according to Thai police, but damage was otherwise minimal.

Most of rural Burma, one of Asia's poorest countries, is underdeveloped, with poor communications and other infrastructure, and minimal rescue and relief capacity.

The second U.N. official said medicine would be sent to the affected areas as soon as possible along with an assessment team in co-operation with the Myanmar Red Cross Society.

Both U.N. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Burma's government frowns on giving unauthorized information to the media.

Somchai Hatayatanti, the governor of Chiang Rai province, said dozens of people suffered minor injuries on the Thai side of the border. Cracks were found in buildings in downtown Chiang Rai city, about 90 kilometres from the epicentre, including a provincial hospital and city hall. The tops of the spires fell off from at least two Buddhist temples.

As a precaution for aftershocks, a relief centre was being set up Friday in Mae Sai.

"We are worried that the area might be hit with stronger quakes. There was another quake at 7 a.m. this morning," said Somsri Meethong of the Mae Sai District office, referring to an aftershock. "I had to run again like last night. What we have seen on TV about Japan added to our fear."

Kem Sokha: I am daydreaming ... therefore it must be true!!!

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 11:18 PM PDT

(Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

 Kem Sokha plans to play an important role without Sam Rainsy

25 March 2011
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Soch

Kem Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party (HRP), expressed his regret should opposition leader Sam Rainsy not be allowed to return to Cambodia to work hand in hand with him in order to defeat the CPP during the upcoming election. However, should Sam Rainsy not be able to return to Cambodia, then the HRP will become the largest opposition party in Cambodia. Kem Sokha declared yesterday that he will open his party's door to accept all politicians who want to join him, in particular those who would walk away from the SRP to join his party is the major current that will turn his party into the no. 1 party to oppose with the CPP. He added that that he wanted to have Sam Rainsy as his political partner because it will be easy to win over the ruling party.

RI still waiting for Thailand`s signal to meet Cambodia

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 10:06 PM PDT

Jakarta, March 25 (ANTARA) - Indonesia`s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it had yet to receive an official statement from Thailand regarding its intention to hold a bilateral meeting with Cambodia to settle their border problem without the presence of a third party.

"We have yet to receive an official statement from Thailand`s representative regarding the matrer. Therefore, we cannot comment on this issue yet," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Michael Tene said here on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Bangkok Post quoted Thailand`s Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon as saying the next General Border Committee (GBC) meeting with Cambdoia must be between Thailand and Cambodia only, without a third party.

Col Thanathip Sawngsaeng, the defence spokesman, said Gen Prawit reaffirmed to the meeting that the GBC must be bilateral without the presence of representatives from Indonesia or any other third country.

"We will not go to Indonesia. The meeting must be held in either Thailand or Cambodia. However, there would be no problems if Indonesia wants to come as a listener," he quoted Gen Prawit as saying.

Gen Prawit said he had personally discussed the matter with Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh.

Moreover, the Thai Defence Ministry had sent a letter to his Cambodian counterpart, asking for a GBC meeting as soon as possible so that the military leaders of the two countries can discuss the border problem.

The GBC is co-chaired by the defence ministers of Thailand and Cambodia. It is separate from the Joint Border Commission (JBC), under the foreign ministry.

Gen Prawit said he believed Cambodia would not postpone the meeting again and that a date would be agreed upon soon.

He said Cambodia was supposed to host the 8th GBC meeting this year. But if Cambodia was not ready, Thailand would be willing to host it, he added.

At the next GBC meeting the two sides would discuss problems in implementing agreements over the disputed border area, security along the border, illegal labour, drug smuggling and other crimes, he said.

Thai politics may derail RI leadership [on border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand]

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 09:53 PM PDT

Friday, March 25, 2011
Abdul Khalik and Adianto P. Simamora
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While Cambodian and Thai ministers have agreed on Indonesia's involvement in their border dispute, the Thai military opposes Indonesia's role, insisting that the dispute be resolved bilaterally without the involvement of any third party.

The rejection of the Thai military to a role being played by Indonesia, the current ASEAN chair, threatens to derail efforts of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa while delegitimating Indonesia's leadership and scaling back ASEAN's role in settling disputes of members, observers here warned.

"Indonesia has to persuade all parties involved, including the military, that through negotiation they can solve the dispute," Adinda Tenriangke Muchtar, the program director of the Indonesian Institute, said.

She said that both countries had tried to solve the dispute bilaterally a number of times and had failed every time.

"So, it's highly appropriate that ASEAN and Indonesia lend a hand to help," Adinda said.

At an Indonesia-brokered ASEAN's foreign minister meeting in Jakarta last month, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to accept a dispatch of Indonesian observers to the disputed area adjacent to the ancient Khmer Hindu temple of Preah Vihear, where heavy fighting erupted in February.

Indonesia also called for meetings of the Thai-Cambodia General Border Committee (GBC) and Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Committee (JBC) on March 24 and 25, but later postponed them to April 7 and 8 in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan hailed the agreement as a "historic day" for the 10-nation bloc, but more than a month later the observer team remains in Jakarta and Thailand's military now says it is not needed.

Indonesia said Thursday that ASEAN's plan to send Indonesian military observers to the disputed Thai-Cambodia border had stalled as it awaited approvals from Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, however, said that Indonesia had not received any official rejection from Thailand or Cambodia over the dispatch of Indonesian observers.

"Up to this moment, we haven't had any official rejection from the Thai or Cambodian governments. We only read the generals' statements in the media. What we have is the written statement supporting Indonesia's role and observer team," he said.

Marty said that Indonesia would not send observers if they were not welcome.

"But the choice is clear. If ASEAN does not get involved then the UN will, as was the case in February. We think that all parties involved will remember this fact."

Thai army chief Gen. Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Wednesday the observers were not wanted in the disputed area near an 11th-century temple because it was too dangerous and they would only complicate matters.

He said the border meeting should be held first so that the defense ministers of two countries could talk and find a solution as to whether the ASEAN observers should enter the area or not.

If the observers do cross the border, he did not want them to enter the disputed area as it is a dangerous zone and their presence would make it more difficult to solve the conflict.

Thai media reported on Thursday that Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban voiced support Thursday for Gen. Prayuth's view that no third party should be involved in the GBC meeting as it was a bilateral issue.

He said Indonesia, in its capacity as ASEAN chair, or any other country, should not meddle in the border committee meeting.

Gen. Prayuth said he and other Thai military commanders resolved not to attend the GBC meeting in Bogor proposed by Indonesia and agreed to by Cambodia, saying that any talks must be bilateral only.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's administration has been under heavy criticism by a number of groups in Thailand as it was seen as weak in confronting Cambodia, with nationalist groups, especially the Yellow Shirts, which is considered close to both the military and the royal family, staging rallies to demand the prime minister step down.

Observers have said that as the Thai election is nearing, the border dispute with Cambodia has been used by some parties planning to challenge Abhisit in the upcoming election while groups in the military simply wanted to exploit the issue to strengthen their position.

The political situation in Thailand is also complicated by the continued rallies of the anti-government Red Shirts, a group associated with former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Surin's Thong Ploy Music: Chapei and Mahori

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 09:43 PM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqiyHqkAV3U


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOYV-zt7cS4&feature=related

At US University, a Writer Seeks His Own Path

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 09:35 PM PDT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzs9mKYznUQ&feature=player_embedded

Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Thursday, 24 March 2011

"I don't belong to any political party, because if I did, I would lose my independence."

Kho Tararith used to be a moto taxi driver and construction worker in Phnom Penh. Today, he's a writer enrolled with the prestigious literary program at Brown University, in Providence, R.I.

Kho Tararith, who is participating in a one-year fellowship at the university, says he loves to write short stories and poems that examine social issues in Cambodia. He has his own way of doing things.

"I've had to pave the way for myself," he told VOA Khmer. "That's what I'm doing. I have my own style, and I write about social issues that I see. I'm an independent writer."

Kho Tararith said he wants to maintain his independence, while at the same time promoting Khmer-language literature.

"I don't belong to any political party, because if I did, I would lose my independence," he said. "I'd have to write what the party boss wanted me to write."

When his year is finished, he said, he wants to find another scholarship to continue his studies in the US. After that, he said he hopes to return to Cambodia to help young writers develop their craft.

Tribunal Judges Keep Seats After Defense Complaint

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 09:30 PM PDT

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 24 March 2011

"The decision was "not suitable" and "not reasonable."

Khmer Rouge tribunal officials rejected on Thursday a motion from defense lawyers to disqualify a group of judges from an upcoming trial of former regime leaders.

In their decision, five judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber said the motion lacked evidence and said they would no longer consider further similar motions.

Defense lawyers for former Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith filed a complaint in February accusing five judges—Nil Nonn, Sylvia Cartwright, Jean-Marc Levergne, Ya Sakhan and Thou Mony—of bias and corruption.

They asked the judges be removed from Case 002, which will try the three defendants, along with Khieu Samphan, for atrocity crimes, including genocide. The trial is expected to take place later this year.

In their decision Thursday, the Trial Chamber said the motion lacked evidence and reasoning. They also rejected a request to suspend procedures in anticipation of an appeal and further hearings on the matter.

Ang Udom, a lawyer for Ieng Sary, said the decision was "not suitable" and "not reasonable."

Long Beach Student Show Seeks To Preserve Culture

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 09:25 PM PDT

Students at a rehearsal, about a Cambodian family living in Long Beach, California. (Photo: Courtesy of Cheang Sophinarath)

Cheang Sophinarath
Long Beach, California Thursday, 24 March 2011

"I feel very happy to see Cambodian children still loving the traditions."

The Cambodian Student Society of California State University, Long Beach, has been around a long time. It was started in 1959 by a group of Cambodian exchange students.

Last week, the society hosted its 27th annual cultural show, in an effort to continue Cambodia's cultural traditions and strengthen friendships within the communities of Long Beach, which is home to one of the most diverse populations in the US.

The show included the traditional dance styles of Chai Yam, Chuon Por, and Apsara, along with skits that ranged from the Angkorean era and modern Cambodian life in America.

Organizers said the show was made possible by a lot of planning, and a lot of help.

"With our members, we have planned since October," said Chhou Ou, vice president of the student association. "And since ware are a community in Long Beach, we got a lot of help, like the dance troops from the community. We got a lot of help from the community."

The show, like the association, was a reflection of the diversity in the community. The Cambodian Student Association has members from different ethic groups, including Vietnamese and Filipinos. Many of its members were born in the US, but others come from Cambodia and beyond.

Chhou Ou, for example, was born in Phnom Penh, but she immigrated to America with her parents when she was three years old. She's been a member of the student association for the past four years.

"We welcome anyone and we welcome everyone," she said.

Audi Fuhr, 22, is Hungarian and Ethiopian, but he teaches Chai Yam dance and focuses on Southeast Asia for his International Studies degree.

"I started getting really interested in Cambodian, Southeast Asian, culture," he said. "And I have become so close [to it]. All my close friends, I've just become so close with everyone. And I've seen so many interesting things, I just stay around."

The student society and last week's show are supported by Cambodians in the Long Beach community, as well.

"I feel very happy to see Cambodian children still loving the traditions," said Dalin Chhay, 43, whose son was one of the performers. "My son is a Krab dancer. I asked him if he wanted to join the Cambodian club, and he liked it."

"I really support them," said Bopha Kanharouth, who was in the audience for the show. "I never thought that they were born here, but they could speak and perform greatly in the dance and the skits. I was so excited because I didn't expect them to do well like this."

Ministry To Seek Out Fraudulent Orphanages

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 09:18 PM PDT

A group of Cambodian orphans gather and play while an orphanage worker looks on (File photo, Photo: AP)

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 24 March 2011

"We have the best interests of the child in mind, and at the moment we believe that many of these orphanages do not have the best interests of the child at heart."

Cambodian authorities say they will begin inspecting orphanages across the country, following concerns that many children living in the increasing number of facilities have parents.

Unicef said this week it remains concerned with the high number of reported Cambodian orphans, around 12,000, and the multiplying number of orphanages, which have more than doubled in the five years.

The UN agency said nearly three in four children at orphanages have at least one parent. The concern is whether children with parents are being used to draw funding to orphanages.

Of the estimated 269 orphanages in the country, only 21 are run by the government, according to the report.

"We have the best interests of the child in mind, and at the moment we believe that many of these orphanages do not have the best interests of the child at heart," Unicef spokesman Marc Vergara told VOA Khmer Thursday.

Unicef will work with the Ministry of Social Affairs and non-government groups to look into the orphanages, he said.

Lim El Djurado, a spokesman for the minisry, said inspections will take place to ensure the orphanages comply with the ministry's standards and policies. Substandard centers will face closure or other measures, he said.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said that while the inspections fall under the purview of the Ministry of Social affairs, his ministry was ready to help investigate and intervene in orphanages that do not comply with the law.

Couple at heart of sensational money-laundering trial in Montreal

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 08:50 PM PDT

Thursday, Mar. 24, 2011
JULIAN SHER AND TU THANH HA
Friday's Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

There are the Cambodian bankers and their monk. The Quebec mobster and his psychic. The crooked cop and a bunch of Colombian cocaine traffickers.

Not to mention the axe murder, the Israeli diamonds and the Latvian bank accounts.

From Miami to Phnom Penh, this tale involves as much as $100-million in drug money, in one of the largest alleged schemes to hide proceeds of crime ever brought before the courts in Canada.

Sy Veng Chun, 63, and his wife Leng Ky Lech, 48, are charged with running what prosecutors call "a sophisticated money-laundering system" with a drug trafficker named Daniel Muir as one of their principal clients.

The Cambodian-born couple ran a tiny currency-exchange boutique in Montreal's Chinatown, not two blocks from the courthouse where they now stand accused.

From evidence at the Montreal trial, which began a year ago, and in other court cases in Florida, a fuller picture is emerging for the first time of an alleged intricate criminal web spanning three continents.

It started with Mr. Muir, a Quebecker whose rap sheet reads like a CV for a fast-rising drug importer, graduating from busts for a few grams of coke in 1988 to hundreds of kilos by the turn of the century. A thriving independent operator, he had a cordial relationship with Mafia bosses such as Frank Cotroni and was sanctioned by the organized crime groups in Montreal.

But with success came the problem of what to do with all those profits. According to Suzanne Pépin, a clairvoyant who became Mr. Muir's confidante, "Daniel was fed up with hiding his money," the Montreal trial was told.

Mr. Muir heard about the services offered by Mr. Chun and Ms. Lech, who ran two companies from the same Chinatown address called Peng Heng Or Gold Inc. and A&A Services Monétaires Inc., court heard.

The pair had been in the news before, when they were executives of Credit Bank of Cambodia of Phnom Penh. In 1995, they lost $2-million trading commodities futures and were unable to meet their margin call. Their bank defaulted, setting off a scandal in Cambodia.

In early 2000, at an Old Montreal restaurant, Mr. Muir and the two accused struck a deal, according to Ms. Pépin, who attended the supper. She said Mr. Chun was described as "the courier of money to Cambodia," and Ms. Lech told Mr. Muir she had "other clients like him."

(If Mr. Muir had his clairvoyant, Ms. Lech had her own spiritual adviser, a Buddhist monk, to see whether it was "a good thing" to take the trafficker's money, the trial heard.)

By 2001, Mr. Muir and an underling, Bernard Mondou, started to negotiate with the Colombian drug baron Elias Cobos-Munoz to import a tonne of cocaine to Canada, via the Bahamas and Florida, according to U.S. court filings.

To pay for the drugs, Mr. Mondou turned to a childhood friend, Montreal police officer Pierre Goulet, to transport $3.5-million to Miami, according to a Quebec court ruling. Hiding packs of cash in the seats and doors of a car, Constable Goulet would flash his badge to avoid scrutiny at the Quebec-New York State border.

The initial plan was to bring the cocaine by plane. However, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the air route had to be dropped and they used instead a speedboat, court documents in Quebec and Florida say.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had gotten wind of the plot and intercepted the shipment in the Bahamas in January, 2002. The DEA then took the cocaine to Miami for a sting operation, according to DEA affidavits.

Days later, in the parking lot of a Taco Bell restaurant, Colombian traffickers brought a U-Haul truck to pick up the cocaine they would deliver to Mr. Muir's men, unaware they were dealing with undercover DEA agents. Mr. Muir had to fly to Cuba to talk with his Colombian contacts about the lost cargo, not knowing that a police operation was being mounted against them, DEA affidavits said.

Back in Montreal, Mr. Muir kept on rolling.

His ex-wife testified that he told her he had "solved his money problems" when he entrusted about $100-million to Ms. Lech, "his partner for money."

Ms. Lech came to Mr. Muir's home to pick up boxes full of $20 bills, court heard. Mr. Chun and Ms. Lech moved the money overseas, prosecutors said, by wiring bank drafts to Cambodia and purchasing more than $10-million in diamonds in Israel, Belgium and Switzerland that were then sent to Hong Kong, Thailand and Cambodia.

"The purchase of this quantity is consistent with the use of diamonds to store wealth via proceeds of crime," Corporal Kelly Ross, an RCMP expert, said in a statement filed before the court.

The cash was also funnelled through Canadian financial institutions such as the Desjardins credit unions, the Bank of Montreal and the Bank of Nova Scotia, the trial heard.

In addition, prosecutors said, Ms. Lech used money "borrowed from her friend Daniel The Frenchman" to open a small bank in Phnom Penh, Peng Heng SME, which specialized in credit for small businesses.

In October, 2002, Mr. Chun and the Buddhist monk were at Montreal's airport, about to fly to Cambodia, when agents doing a routine security check found $600,000 U.S. – in $100 bills – in Mr. Chun's carry-on bag, court heard.

Even though no charges were filed, the RCMP seized the cash.

Mr. Muir, meanwhile, was having trouble with the Colombians.

In 2003, he sent them $3-million through Panama. The Colombian shipped him 800 kilos of cocaine via Venezuela, but half was ruined in transit. Mr. Muir had to send emissaries to Miami to negotiate with the Colombians, who said he still owed them $1.7-million for the Venezuelan delivery, Florida court documents said.

In the fall, Mr. Muir sent $1-million to the Colombians, using a circuitous route that went from accounts in Latvia and Russia, through banks in New York and San Francisco to Costa Rica, according to a U.S. Justice Department indictment.

One evening in February, 2004, Mr. Muir was leaving the Club Wanda's strip club in downtown Montreal when two men armed with an axe and knife ran after him. Witnesses heard him scream, "They're going to kill me!" before he was hacked and stabbed. The murder has never been solved.

At the time, "investors" had paid Mr. Muir $35-million for more drugs, but the money was now missing, according to a U.S. Justice Department case summary.

Four months later, the DEA, the RCMP and police in the Bahamas and Colombia announced a series of charges against the Colombian and Canadian organizations. Mr. Mondou, Mr. Cobos-Munoz and Constable Goulet and dozens of others were all eventually convicted.

As police began digging into Mr. Muir's background, the money trail led them to the Chun-Lech enterprise.

"We started making the links between the two organizations," Sergeant Benoît Roy, the RCMP's lead investigator on the case, said in an interview.

Police say they discovered that Mr. Muir's $1.2-million mansion at the foot of Mont St. Hilaire, south of Montreal, was in Ms. Lech's name. The hunt was on.

Mr. Chun and Ms. Lech were arrested in January, 2005, after returning from another trip to Cambodia. It took another five years of legal wrangling before their trial finally got under way.

The defence has yet to present its side of the story, and a key witness to much of the alleged laundering, Mr. Muir, is dead.

If found guilty, they could each face a maximum of 10 years in prison. The Crown will also seek confiscation of two homes valued at more than $2-million, the $600,000 seized at the airport and 3,800 diamonds and gems.

During a break, the couple sat serenely in the court corridor.

"I'm not worried," Mr. Chun said.

Ms. Lech nodded and smiled. "I'm not afraid of anything," she said.

With reports from Les Perreaux and Ingrid Peritz in Montreal

"Min Khoeunh Katt Kor?!" a Poem in Khmer by Sam Vichea

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 07:12 PM PDT

Cambodia's orphanages target the wallets of well-meaning tourists

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 06:30 PM PDT

Research indicates most of the country's orphans have a living parent (Photo: Getty)

Friday, 25 March 2011
By Robert Carmichael in Phnom Penh
The Independent

The Cambodian government has started inspecting more than 250 orphanages after it was revealed that most of the country's 12,000 orphans have at least one living parent. The government said that until the assessment is completed, it had no idea whether the children were being cared for properly.

Aid groups suspect that those running homes for children are enticing more parents to give up their children with promises of food, shelter and, crucially in Cambodia, education. In return, those running orphanages can expect larger donations from charities and Western tourists, who are encouraged to visit homes.

Richard Bridle, the country representative of the UN children's agency Unicef, said research had indicated 28 per cent of children in orphanages had lost both parents, raising the question about why thousands of others with at least one surviving parent were in institutional care. Unicef has also expressed concern at the near doubling of orphanage numbers from 153 to 269 in the last five years. Just 21 are state-run; the rest operate privately, and many of those are faith-based.

"Overseas donors are the main funders of residential care, and many residential-care centres have begun to turn to tourism to attract funders, and in doing so, are putting children at risk," Mr Bridle said.

The rate of growth in the number of Cambodia's orphanages over the past five years matches the increase in the number of tourists visiting the country during the same period. Visitors to Cambodia's three main tourist areas – Phnom Penh, the temple city of Siem Reap and the beach resort town of Sihanoukville – are regularly bombarded with offers to visit private orphanages and donate money.

Guesthouses commonly display posters asking travellers to visit particular orphanages. One poster promoting an orphanage in Phnom Penh says people can help "in many different areas", from teaching English and playing with the children to donating food, toys, educational materials and cash. Another orphanage displayed the appeal: "Children in Cambodia need your help!" Mr Bridle said even those tourists and volunteers who visited with good intentions were sustaining a system that was separating children from their families.

Although Unicef recognises orphanages had a place, institutional care should be a last resort, he said. It was far better for the children – and far cheaper – to have children looked after by a parent or in the community.

Sebastien Marot, the head of Friends International, a charity for street children, said orphanage tourism was simply a cynical marketing ploy that exploited children. "The system is very simple," he said. "You put a few poor-looking, sad-looking children in a centre and you try to attract tourists."

The money that tourists leave typically did not benefit the children, because, "otherwise you're breaking the business", he said. "So the money goes elsewhere and the children are maintained in the situation of poverty, looking poor and so you attract more tourists and make more money."

Rob Hamill pursues brother's torturer

Posted: 24 Mar 2011 06:11 PM PDT

ROB HAMILL: Wants to meet war criminal.

25/03/2011
BEN STANLEY
Waikato Times (New Zealand)

A continuing desire for a face-to-face meeting with the man responsible for the killing of his brother will send Rob Hamill back to Cambodia today to attend an appeal hearing for a Khmer Rouge war criminal.

Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, was sentenced to 35 years in prison by a United Nations-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last July, after he had pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity, war crimes, premeditated murder and torture.

Duch, 67, confessed to the torture of more than 12,000 people – among them Mr Hamill's brother, Kerry, in 1978 – before they were executed during his tenure as chief of the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. Duch's defence lawyers claim he was not the most responsible senior official at S-21.

The prosecution has also appealed the length of Duch's sentence, which they want extended to 45 years.

Mr Hamill, who lives in Te Pahu, addressed the war criminal in court in Phnom Penh last year, but now wants an opportunity to speak to him "face-to-face".

Emails to Duch's defence team have not received replies but Mr Hamill remains resolute, saying he would attempt to speak with Duch's representatives again while in Phnom Penh.

"There's more to it than him just agreeing to meet."

Mr Hamill believes Duch had an opportunity to "walk away" from S-21 or stop what was happening at the infamous torture camp.

"He didn't do a Schindler's List when he could have," Mr Hamill said.

"He could've got out of there and helped people ... but he didn't."

Mr Hamill expects it "could take months" before a new sentence is confirmed or denied.

The appeal begins on Monday and will last four days.

Mr Hamill is currently making the final edits to a documentary about his brother and his search for justice for Kerry's death.

Entitled Brother Number One, it is expected to be released later this year.