Border memos panel seeks more time…usual hypocrisy

(BKP)—The joint House-Senate committee scrutinising the three Siem-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission memorandums will ask for another 90 days to complete its work, panel secretary Ratchada Thanadirek said on Tuesday.

Ms Ratchada said a letter would be submitted to to Paliament President Chai Chidchob seek the extension to allow the committee to look into the three memos in full detail.

Representatives of all agencies concerned would be invited to give information to the committee because the documents on hand did not provide enough details.

Members of the committee would also travel to the border area to gather first-hand information, she added.

The joint committee reviewing the memos, comprising seven senators and 23 MPs, was initially given until Dec 1 to complete its job, she said.

Ms Ratchada said at this stage Thailand was not at a disadvantage because it was still in the stage of negotiation and surveying the area.

The people could rest assured that the parliament was duty-bound to protect the national interest and should not worry, she said.

The parliament agreed to set up the committee on Nov 2 when about 2,000 yellow-shirts of the People’s Alliance for Democracy rallied to show strong opposition to the memos tabled for endorsement.

The PAD is concerned parliament’s endorsement of the Thai-Cambodian memos, signed last year and in 2008 by the JBC, would result in a significant loss of territory to Cambodia.

PAD co-leader Sondhi Limthongkul said his group would rally on Dec 11 at Makkhawan Rangsan Bridge on Ratchadamnoen Avenue if it was not satisfied with the committee’s review.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya had reaffirmed the three JBC memos would not affect Thai sovereignty as it kept the territorial dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over the Preah Vihear temple on a bilateral, rather than a multi-lateral, level.

Anti-corruption unit nabs first suspects…Sok An,Chan Sarun or Cham Prasidh next?

Phnompenhpost by Mom Kunthear 29-11-2010
The head of the Anticorruption Unit led police in the apprehension of a Pursat provincial prosecutor and two bodyguards working for him yesterday morning, marking the first arrests made by the recently established body.

Nget Theavy, provincial Adhoc coordinator, said ACU head Om Yentieng, who is also a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen, accompanied police to the home of prosecutor Top Chan Sereyvuth, where the arrests were made.

“We don’t know the exact reason yet why he was arrested,” she said, and added that the arrest had come as a surprise to local officials.

“There was no one who knew in advance about arresting the prosecutor until he was arrested at his house on Monday morning,” she said.

She added, however, that the arrests had come as a welcome surprise to “many people in Pursat province” because “they are angry with this prosecutor who used his power to oppress innocent people”.

She said the three men had been “sent immediately to Phnom Penh” after their arrest.

Thong Ol, director of the provincial court, said the Anticorruption Unit had detained Top Chan Sereyvuth and the two bodyguards for questioning. He declined to comment further, saying he did not have any additional information.

Chub Sophany, provincial deputy governor, said she too did not know why Top Chan Sereyvuth had been arrested.

“We were not told about the reason, but Om Yentieng told us that the Anti-corruption Unit had followed Top Chan Sereyvuth’s activities for a long time,” she said.

Keo Remy, a spokesman for the ACU, declined to comment saying he had not been informed of the case.

He referred questions to Om Yentieng, who declined to comment, saying he was busy questioning the three suspects.

Hang Chhaya, executive director of the Khmer Institute for Democracy, said the arrest gave “some glint of hope” that the ACU was willing to target corruption in high-ranking officials.
He noted, however, that the arrest had come very soon after the establishment of the ACU and said it would be “interesting to see what happens with this case”.

“It is really fast, so we have to monitor it,” he said. “It should be transparent and we would like to see the accused given due process.”

Wikileaks releases embassy cables…is CFF/Tigerhead arrest plan in there too?

Prime Minister shakes hands with US Ambassador Carol Rodley before leaving for the ASEAN-United States Leaders’ meeting in New York in September photo:Sovan Philong

Phnompenhpost by James O’Toole 29-11-2010
Nearly 800 documents from the United States embassy in Phnom Penh are part of a massive leak of American diplomatic cables by the website WikiLeaks, the first installment of which was released yesterday.

WikiLeaks has pledged to release the documents in its possession gradually over the coming months, and no documents related to Cambodia were part of the batch released yesterday. According to an index of the cables, however, there are 1,010 Cambodia-related documents in the WikiLeaks archive, including 147 classified as “confidential” and five termed “secret”.

The US has condemned the leak, which comprises more than 250,000 documents from 274 diplomatic outposts and the US state department, branding it a threat to security and America’s relations with its allies.

“Wikileaks disclosure of classified information is an irresponsible attempt to wreak havoc and destabilise global security. It potentially jeopardises lives and global engagement among and between nations,” Mark Wenig, spokesman for the US embassy in Phnom Penh, said in an email yesterday.

“Given its potential impact, we condemn unauthorised disclosures and are taking every step to prevent security breaches.”
Wenig declined to comment on the substance of the Cambodia-related documents.

“As a matter of policy, the Department of State does not comment on allegedly leaked documents,” he said.

“I can certainly state, however, that our relationship with Cambodia is based on mutual respect and shared goals, and that we are proud of how far our relationship has come.”

According to a classification system laid out in an executive order signed by US President Barack Obama last year, disclosure of documents labelled “secret” could cause “serious damage” to US security, while documents labelled “confidential” could cause “damage”, in the assessment of US officials.

Thousands of cables in the WikiLeaks stash are also labelled with the tag “noforn”, which means they are not to be shared with foreign nationals, though it is not yet clear how many Cambodia-related documents are labelled this way.

In addition to the cables from the embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia-related documents in WikiLeaks’ possession have also originated from other embassies including those in Beijing, Hanoi and Bangkok, as well as from the US missions in Geneva and at the United Nations in New York.

WikiLeaks had released just 226 of its 251,287 so-called “Cable Gate” documents as of yesterday, pledging on its website to release the rest “in stages over the next few months”.

“The subject matter of these cables is of such importance, and the geographical spread so broad, that to do otherwise would not do this material justice,” WikiLeaks said.

“The cables show the extent of US spying on its allies and the UN; turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse in ‘client states’; backroom deals with supposedly neutral countries; lobbying for US corporations; and the measures US diplomats take to advance those who have access to them.”

The documents were made available in advance to The New York Times, The Guardian, France’s Le Monde and Spain’s El Pais newspapers, and to Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine. Coverage of the first round of documents has focused on global fears regarding Iranian nuclear weapons, as well as on US attempts to spy on the UN leadership and candid assessments of world leaders by American diplomats.

The US embassy in Phnom Penh is responsible for 777 of the cables in WikiLeaks’ possession, tied for the 110th-most among the 274 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions included in the archive. The leak is seven times the size of WikiLeaks’ Iraq War Logs, a collection of documents released last month that detail America’s war effort in that country.

The first Cambodia-related document in WikiLeaks’ possession, according to The Guardian database, is a 1989 cable from the American embassy in Thailand. The first cable from the embassy in Phnom Penh comes in March of 1992.

Documentation is sparse in subsequent years, with just 15 embassy cables represented prior to 2006. 1997, the year of the deadly grenade attack on a Sam Rainsy Party rally and the factional fighting that ousted then-First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh, is represented by just one cable in the archive, which relates to military assistance, according to The Guardian index.

Hundreds of documents have been included from recent years, however. A flurry of Cambodia-related cables went out from the American embassies in Phnom Penh and Beijing in late December of last year, around the time of the Kingdom’s deportation of 20 Uighur Chinese asylum seekers back to China, and a number of cables from Phnom Penh were also sent following the Kingdom’s 2008 elections.

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith did not respond to a request for comment yesterday, while Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong declined to comment.

“I have no information on that, so I have nothing to say,” Koy Kuong said.

Derek Tonkin, formerly the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Vietnam and Thailand, said in an email that WikiLeaks’ disclosures could prompt a reassessment of how officials in Cambodia and elsewhere deal with American diplomats.

“The damage to US diplomacy is that no foreign personality is now likely to feel safe in revealing his innermost thoughts to a US diplomat because they might now find them emblazoned across the headlines,” Tonkin said. Nearly 800 documents from the United States embassy in Phnom Penh are part of a massive leak of American diplomatic cables by the website WikiLeaks, the first installment of which was released yesterday.

WikiLeaks has pledged to release the documents in its possession gradually over the coming months, and no documents related to Cambodia were part of the batch released yesterday. According to an index of the cables, however, there are 1,010 Cambodia-related documents in the WikiLeaks archive, including 147 classified as “confidential” and five termed “secret”.

The US has condemned the leak, which comprises more than 250,000 documents from 274 diplomatic outposts and the US state department, branding it a threat to security and America’s relations with its allies.

“Wikileaks disclosure of classified information is an irresponsible attempt to wreak havoc and destabilise global security. It potentially jeopardises lives and global engagement among and between nations,” Mark Wenig, spokesman for the US embassy in Phnom Penh, said in an email yesterday.

“Given its potential impact, we condemn unauthorised disclosures and are taking every step to prevent security breaches.”
Wenig declined to comment on the substance of the Cambodia-related documents.

“As a matter of policy, the Department of State does not comment on allegedly leaked documents,” he said.

“I can certainly state, however, that our relationship with Cambodia is based on mutual respect and shared goals, and that we are proud of how far our relationship has come.”

According to a classification system laid out in an executive order signed by US President Barack Obama last year, disclosure of documents labelled “secret” could cause “serious damage” to US security, while documents labelled “confidential” could cause “damage”, in the assessment of US officials.

Thousands of cables in the WikiLeaks stash are also labelled with the tag “noforn”, which means they are not to be shared with foreign nationals, though it is not yet clear how many Cambodia-related documents are labelled this way.

In addition to the cables from the embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia-related documents in WikiLeaks’ possession have also originated from other embassies including those in Beijing, Hanoi and Bangkok, as well as from the US missions in Geneva and at the United Nations in New York.

WikiLeaks had released just 226 of its 251,287 so-called “Cable Gate” documents as of yesterday, pledging on its website to release the rest “in stages over the next few months”.

“The subject matter of these cables is of such importance, and the geographical spread so broad, that to do otherwise would not do this material justice,” WikiLeaks said.

“The cables show the extent of US spying on its allies and the UN; turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse in ‘client states’; backroom deals with supposedly neutral countries; lobbying for US corporations; and the measures US diplomats take to advance those who have access to them.”

The documents were made available in advance to The New York Times, The Guardian, France’s Le Monde and Spain’s El Pais newspapers, and to Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine. Coverage of the first round of documents has focused on global fears regarding Iranian nuclear weapons, as well as on US attempts to spy on the UN leadership and candid assessments of world leaders by American diplomats.

The US embassy in Phnom Penh is responsible for 777 of the cables in WikiLeaks’ possession, tied for the 110th-most among the 274 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions included in the archive. The leak is seven times the size of WikiLeaks’ Iraq War Logs, a collection of documents released last month that detail America’s war effort in that country.

The first Cambodia-related document in WikiLeaks’ possession, according to The Guardian database, is a 1989 cable from the American embassy in Thailand. The first cable from the embassy in Phnom Penh comes in March of 1992.

Documentation is sparse in subsequent years, with just 15 embassy cables represented prior to 2006. 1997, the year of the deadly grenade attack on a Sam Rainsy Party rally and the factional fighting that ousted then-First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh, is represented by just one cable in the archive, which relates to military assistance, according to The Guardian index.

Hundreds of documents have been included from recent years, however. A flurry of Cambodia-related cables went out from the American embassies in Phnom Penh and Beijing in late December of last year, around the time of the Kingdom’s deportation of 20 Uighur Chinese asylum seekers back to China, and a number of cables from Phnom Penh were also sent following the Kingdom’s 2008 elections.

Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith did not respond to a request for comment yesterday, while Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong declined to comment.

“I have no information on that, so I have nothing to say,” Koy Kuong said.

Derek Tonkin, formerly the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Vietnam and Thailand, said in an email that WikiLeaks’ disclosures could prompt a reassessment of how officials in Cambodia and elsewhere deal with American diplomats.

“The damage to US diplomacy is that no foreign personality is now likely to feel safe in revealing his innermost thoughts to a US diplomat because they might now find them emblazoned across the headlines,” Tonkin said.

นักเลงชั้นสูง of ASEAN 2010 Title

Abhisit: KR Hun Sen new found friend; Chuan: KR Ieng Sary (So Hao/Kim Tran) best friend

For Siem usual politics,those who sucked up to the blueblooded clan best interests would gain the clan favorable support meaning to stay in power. Having been backed by the blueblooded clan,Abhisit at Chuan’s patronage has not only survived the opposition protests and challenges but gained more respect from his rivals in Kampucha,Lao and Yuon. Well mannered in speaking and tough in policies,Abhisit has tamed Kampucha’s jungle fighter Comrade Xen to kow-tow to Siem diplomacy and Abhisit agendas. Knowing well that Siem never gave in in motion to accept MoU 2000 and recognition of UNESCO granting World Heritage Site for Preah Vihear but Comrade Xen is not slowing down but is more than willing to reopen the dispute area to Siem visitor access and a place to hang out during 2011 new year celebration day.

It appears Abhisit beats Comrade Xen with bare knuckles and scores in TKO.
Now he is the clear winner of the ASEAN 2010 dictator championship title.
Well done nayok Akvejjajiva(នាយក អវិជ្ជាជិវៈ)!

Ancient Buddhist seals found in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) — More than 100 seals of ancient Buddhist period were found in Taxila (តក្កសីលា)which was the capital of the Buddhist kingdom of Gandhara (គន្ធរ)and a center of learning in northwest Pakistan, local Media reported Tuesday.

The relics were found during the research made by the Department of Archeology and Museums in their latest excavations of Taxila region, according to DAWN newspaper. The seals are reported to be added to the collection of Taxila museum soon.

Besides other relics of historical significance including gold coins and the rare Red Stone and Buddha sculpture were also found.

The seals were found in a cell, which was reportedly the greatest collection from a single location so far.

Officials believed that the discovered seals belong to the first century BC to fifth century AD. They believed that the discovery of the ancient clay seals depicting icons symbols and motifs provides vital evidence that this monastery either received heavy donations or had deep economical ties with other states.

Analytical study of the seals is underway to confirm the donor states and people in those days.

Taxila had been the proud cradle of one of the most ancient civilizations in this part of the world when it was known as Takshasila and where Buddhism flourished since the reign of Ashoka, the great India king, in 272-232 BC.

Preah Vihear temple border gate with Siem(Old Khmer territories) likely to open on weekend

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) — Ten Thai soldiers stationed in Wat Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak pagoda at Preah Vihear temple have already withdrawn and the Preah Vihear temple border gate with Thailand is likely to open on Sunday, said a top official at the Preah Vihear National Authority.

“Since Monday’s evening, both sides have pulled out each side of the 10 soldiers stationed in Wat Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak pagoda and Thai side asked to keep five of them dressed uniforms and equipped with radio transmitters, but no weapons to station at the Police station 795 nearby the Cambodian market nearby the temple,” Hang Soth, General Director of the Preah Vihear National Authority told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Both sides have also been re-filled bunkers since on Monday, he added.

“We, both sides, agreed in general to open the border gate at Preah Vihear temple on December 5 upon the request by a Thai army commander,” he added. “However, we are not yet to agree with the Thai request to allow her vendors to sell in our market nearby the temple.”

Chea Dara, deputy commander-in-chief of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, who is in charge of the army at Preah Vihear temple, said Tuesday that tension between the two countries have been eased since four times of meetings between the two countries’ leaders and subsequent meetings between commanders of both sides’ armed forces.

The border gate has been closed since July 2008, when Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as a World Heritage site, triggering a military build-up along the border, and periodic clashes between Cambodian and Thai soldiers have resulted in the deaths of troops on both sides.

Since then, tourists have been allowed to enter the hilltop temple from only Cambodia side, preventing a larger influx of visitors from Thailand.

Siem to conduct IQ tests…especially especially for the incestuous blueblooded children

The Department of Mental Health will conduct a major study to measure the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of nearly 100,000 primary and secondary students across the country after finding the IQ of Thai teenagers was at a critically low level.

The study aims to collect information that can be used to boost the IQ of Thai teenagers over five years.

The study will be conducted next month, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said on Monday.

According to a survey last year, the average IQ for Thai teenagers was 91 points, near the bottom of the world average range of 90 to 110 points.

The study will start collecting information from December 13-24 this year. The results will be revealed in January.

Researchers will use a set of graphic pictures to test children’s IQ. Each child will spend 40 minutes doing the test. — THE NATION/ANN

Asean sets 2015 as target…for hot air project

(AFP)—KUALA LUMPUR – ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan on Tuesday urged member states to step up intra-regional trade, saying it was ‘difficult’ otherwise to see the bloc reaching its goal of economic integration by 2015.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has set 2015 as the target for creating a single regional economic market known as the Asean Economic Community.

Speaking at a one-day Asean finance ministers’ meeting in the Malaysian capital, Mr Surin said trading among member states presently accounted for only 25 per cent of their total trade. Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

‘Unless and until Asean business communities make that fateful decision to cross borders into each other, it is difficult for me to see we will have an economic community by the year 2015,’ he told the meeting.

‘We need to increase our investments in each others’ economies, so it becomes sustainable and competitive,’ said the Asean secretary-general. ‘Here is the market, let’s make it work.’ Mr Surin also urged member countries, which mostly emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis, to reduce their reliance on the external market.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said earlier this month that major Asean countries had rebounded from the global economic crisis, with average expected growth of 7.3 per cent this year, and six per cent over the next five years.

$8m given to restore Angkor Wat…China keeps Cambodia in its control

30 November 2010
(AP)—PHNOM PENH – China has given Cambodia US$6 million (S$8 million) to help restore a deteriorating temple at the Angkor Wat temple complex, one of Asia’s greatest landmarks.

Soeung Kong, an official with the agency that oversees the Angkor Archaeological Park, said on Monday the renovation of the Hindu-style Ta Keo temple will begin early next year and should be completed in eight years. He said the temple is deteriorating badly and its walls are at risk of collapse due to natural deterioration.

Ta Keo is a pyramid of five levels, built entirely of sandstone in the late 10th century to early 11th century.

China previously gave US$2 million in 2000 to help restore Chausay Tevada, a 12th century Hindu temple at the complex, he said.

Hun Xen warns to cut ministers’ salaries to cover surpass cost of electricity

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) — The salaries of ministries’ leaders will be cut to cover the electricity cost if their ministries use electricity more than the budget the government limits for them, said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday.

“From now on, any ministry consumes electricity more than the budget the government determines for them, the three-month salaries of ministers, secretaries of state, undersecretaries of state will be cut to cover the surpass cost of power tariff,” Hun Sen warns his officials on Monday during the inauguration of the office of the ministry of social affairs, veteran and youth rehabilitation.

“State’s debts on electricity always increase due to the waste of electricity.”

He said that new and bigger buildings of ministries push up bigger expenses, especially electricity fees, he said, adding that but frugality can cut down expenses, any room is not used; do not turn air-con.

“If you disagree with the cut of salaries, you can resign from your positions,” he said. “I announce this matter to all ministries today.”

Hun Sen does not specify the budget allocated to the ministries for expending on power tariff.

He said he will verify with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Energy to inspect which ministries use more electricity than the limited budget for them to expend for power fee.

“Even though Phnom Penh and provinces have to save electricity, lights on roads at nights should be turned off late at nights,” he said.