DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “At least 13 Abu Sayyaf militants killed in clash with gov't forces: military” plus 9 more

MANILA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in Thursday's firefight with government soldiers on the outskirts of Patikul town, Sulu province that also left seven marine soldiers dead and 21 others wounded, a military commander said Friday.

Brig. Gen. Romeo Tanalgo, commander of the marine forces in Sulu, said he also had information that seven other Abu Sayyaf militants were wounded in the fierce fighting with troops of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 10.

"According to our information, 13 were killed (on the Abu Sayyaf side) and seven were injured," said Tanalgo.

However, no enemy bodies were recovered, according to the military.

Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, who visited the military casualties in Zamboanga City, confirmed the report.

"Based on reliable information, 13 ASG (Abu Sayyaf group members) were killed and undetermined wounded, seven of them identified through their aliases," said Guerrero.

Guerrero said they were still arranging the airlifting of the bodies of the slain soldiers, including a second lieutenant, to Manila on Saturday. The slain troops are expected be provided honors on Sunday, he said.

Meanwhile, Tanalgo said efforts were underway to pursue the remnants of the encountered Abu Sayyaf terrorists, under Abu Sayyaf leaders Isnilon Hapinon and Radullan Sahiron.

"The hot pursuit is still ongoing..Nothing significant has occurred yesterday (Thursday) up to now," said Tanalgo.

The Abu Sayyaf, active in southern Philippines, was founded in the 1990s and has perpetrated a number of high-profile attacks, including kidnapping, bombing and beheading.

The Philippine military estimates the Abu Sayyaf, which has links with external terrorist organizations such as al-Qaida, currently has less than 400 members.

PHNOM PENH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The six participating countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Program will gather here on August 2-4 in the 17th GMS Ministerial Conference to review and agree on the new GMS Strategic Framework for 2012-2022, said a press release from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday.

The new Strategic Framework is a road map for moving the GMS Program forward in the light of changing global and regional context, as well as emerging issues such as climate change, changing social and demographic trends, and changing balance of economic activity in Asia, said the statement.

The framework will help the subregion through "second generation" cooperation, including infrastructure investment establishing the GMS economic corridors.

"This Ministerial Conference is particularly significant since the new Strategic Framework marks a generational gear shift for the GMS Program and will imply significant changes to the type of projects and initiatives pursued in the next phase," said Kunio Senga, Director General of ADB's Southeast Asia Department.

"These changes have important implications for not just the GMS Program but all its stakeholders, including development partners and GMS countries," he added.

Since its establishment in 1992, the highly successful GMS Program has been contributing to economic growth in the subregion, averaging more than 6 percent in the last 15 years.

By the end of June 2011, the ADB had extended loans and grants totaling almost 5 billion U.S. dollars for 55 projects in the subregion, mainly infrastructure.

The GMS countries consist of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

COLOMBO, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A Sri Lankan musician has released a song and video against the United Nations, accusing the world body of being biased when dealing with the island nation.

Musician and song writer Rukshan Perera released the song ' shame on you'two weeks ago in the Sri Lankan market and it features two other popular local musicians collaborating on the track.

"As Sri Lanka is an underdeveloped country and a small country we get bullied by the big nations all the time. But the United Nations in general is supposed to treat all countries equally but we clearly see that's not happening," Perera said Friday.

A United Nations panel report released earlier this year alleged that over 40,000 civilians were killed during the final stages of the Sri Lankan war against Tamil Tiger rebels which ended in May 2009.

The United Nations has been putting pressure on Sri Lanka, since the end of the war, to agree for an international independent investigation into alleged war crimes committed in Sri Lanka.

"The United States and some Western countries had bombed others but there is no action against them. Sri Lanka on the other hand finished a terrorist war and we are being penalized. Obviously there are double standards," Perera said.

Since its release, the track by the Sri Lankan musician has been receiving a lot of airplay on local television and radio and is also available on the internet.

The Sri Lankan government had appointed a local commission to investigate allegations raised against the island over the war and has asked the international community to support the local probe.

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen civilians were killed on Friday morning when their mini-bus ran over a roadside bomb in Nahri Sarraj district of Helmand province, 555 km south of Afghan capital Kabul, police said.

From August 1 through August 6 the leading members of the Democrat Party of Thailand will be frantically busy to cut deals on the composition of the Party executive board including the influential position of Party leader and Party secretary general. It is also the time when Khun Abhisit will cut the deals as to the future policy of the Democrat Party if he is informally "drafted" by the leading members to be the Party leader, which is how the politics of the "losing party" will be shaped in the future and for the future, "if all of you wanted me to be your leader!"

All things that Khun Abhisit had viewed during two years of premiership as the albatross around his neck, as the shackles around his ankles would be discussed and he would have his way if he realized that he has become a rare commodity in the Democrat Party of Thailand.

On his bid public a farewell on TV address scheduled for Monday 1 August, "he is expected to mention his government's work over the past two years and how determined he was to serve the country as prime minister " wrote Piyanart Srivalo in The Nation, published on 29 July 2011.  Will he stop simply on a note of a good and famous "swan song" for the future of Thailand politics? Or will he flirt with the position of Party leader? – Well, "Thailand is full of possibilities," wrote a Thai analyst, for individuals who had a chance to taste the sweetness of power, and for politicians who aspire for grandeur. Up to now Khun Abhisit did not yet shut the door close to the position of Party leader. He is reported by The Nation to have said, after the Democrat Party election downfall and the threat by certain number of members to leave the Party, that: "poor management could definitely darken the party's future but true members would remain in both good and bad times," a reminder that he is a good soldier and could possibly be a good general.

From the outsiders' point of view, if Khun Abhisit comes back to be the leader of the Democrat Party, two things will be the hard facts about Thailand, which are (i) the Democrat Party of Thailand does not have any other member better than Khun Abhisit, (a really rare commodity) and (ii) Khun Abhisit will relieve Thai politics from the usual albatross and shackles, otherwise he will not come back. He had sad experiences, as the result of 2011 election proves, holding the power with albatross around his neck and shackles around his ankles.

Pen Ngoeun (The Press and Quick Reaction Unit )

PHNOM PENH, July 28 -- The ministers of environment of the six Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries on Thursday endorsed the regional action plan 2012-2016 for environment cooperation to ensure balanced and sustainable economic growth, according to a joint ministerial statement.

The second five-year strategic plan on the Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (CEP- BCI) in the GMS countries will mainly focus on environmental planning systems, methods and safeguards; management of trans- boundary biodiversity conservation landscapes and local livelihoods; climate resilient investments and low carbon strategies; and institutions and financing for sustainable environmental management.

"We expect that our efforts through the CEP-BCI 2012-2016 will further strengthen institutional and human resource capacity which is key to achieving our vision of a poverty free and ecologically rich in GMS," said the statement after the third GMS environment ministers' meeting.

"We encourage the development of a green, inclusive, and balanced economy in the GMS countries," it said. "We welcome the investments in agriculture, energy, tourism, transport sectors."

Cambodian Minister of Environment Mok Mareth said the GMS environment ministers are proposing around 26.5 million U.S. dollars to implement the second phase action plan.

"The plan is to protect and conserve our ecosystems and biodiversity in the GMS countries," he said. "It is also to ensure the sustainability of each country's economic development."

The GMS countries consist of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, July 28- Cambodia and Malaysia on Thursday pledged to strengthen military relations and cooperation in the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Speaking during a meeting with Cambodian Minister of Defense Tea Banh, the visiting Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said his visit to Cambodia aims to seek Cambodia's support for Malaysian initiative to establish military industry in ASEAN in order to produce its own military equipment.

He also promised to accept more Cambodian military personnel to train in Malaysia.

At the mean time, Ahmad Zahid expressed support to the order of the International Court of Justice on July 18 asking Cambodia and Thailand to immediately withdraw their military personnel currently present in the provisional demilitarized zone around the area of Preah Vihear temple and ordering both parties to continue cooperating within ASEAN and allow appointed observers access to the provisional demilitarized zone.

"The ICJ's order has signaled a good sign of peace for Cambodia and Thailand on border conflict next to the Preah Vihear temple," he said. "It also brings peace to the whole region."

In response, Tea Banh said Cambodia fully supported Malaysian initiative for military industry and thanked Malaysia for constant assistance to Cambodian defense sector.

Later in the day, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had also paid a courtesy call on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Ahmad Zahid said during the visit, he had brought 10,200 copies of the holy Quran and 1,000 prayer mats to distribute to the Muslim community in Cambodia.

He arrived in Cambodia Wednesday for a three-day official visit to the country. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has seen a sharp rise in cassava exports in the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year, according to the statistics from the Commerce Ministry's Camcontrol Department on Tuesday.

The data showed that from January to June this year, the country had exported 212,018 tons of fresh and dry chip cassava, represented 87 percent rise from 113,068 tons in the same period last year.

The country earned the total revenues of 8.7 million U.S. dollars during the six months of this year, up 200 percent from only 2.9 million U.S. dollars at the same period last year, showed the data.

According to the report from the Ministry of Agriculture, the country grew 194,000 hectares of cassava crop and yielded 3.78 million tons in 2010-2011 harvest season.

HANOI, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The 5th ASEAN Naval Chiefs'Meeting (ANCM-5), themed "ASEAN naval cooperation for maritime peace and security", opened here on Wednesday, with participation of naval chiefs from nine ASEAN member countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and Laos'acting defense attache in Vietnam.

According to Vietnam News Agency, the meeting was chaired by Vietnamese Vice Admiral Nguyen Van Hien, Deputy Minister of Defense and Commander of Vietnam People's Navy.

ANCM-5 provided opportunities for ASEAN navy forces to strengthen mutual confidence, share experience and information of the regional security situation, said Hien.

During the 3-day meeting, participants also discuss two initiatives raised by the host Vietnam, including a roadmap for cooperation among ASEAN navy forces and exchange among ASEAN young navy officers.

ANCM-5 will adopt an official agenda to become an annual event, the report said.