Cambodia Rejects Extradition Request for Thaksin

Cambodia has officially rejected a Thai extradition request for its ousted premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, who arrived in Phnom Penh Tuesday as a new economic adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Thaksin faces a two-year prison sentence if he returns to Thailand, but Hun Sen has said he considers the case against him politically motivated, exempting Cambodia from its extradition obligations to Thailand.
Hun Sen told reporters Wednesday that he met with Thaksin at his house in Kandal province, just outside Phnom Penh, and that Cambodia had officially denied an extradition request issued through the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh.
Removed from power in a bloodless coup in 2006, Thaksin is a politically divisive figure in Thailand, and the tacit support shown him by the Cambodian administration has created a deep diplomatic rift, including the mutual withdrawal last week by ambassadors on each side.
In an official letter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited a provision of its treaty with Thailand that exempts extradition in politically motivated cases.
Thai officials in Phnom Penh declined to comment Wednesday, but Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was quoted in Thai media saying he had ordered his the Thai Foreign Ministry to revise its cooperation with Cambodia.
A Cambodian government spokesman said Thaksin had arrived on a small, private airplane at Phnom Penh’s military airbase Tuesday and was escorted into the capital in a convoy of vehicles under tight security.
In a statement carried by Cambodian state-run TVK Wednesday, Thaksin said he meant no harm to Thailand, and he urged Thais to continue to work for the economy and poverty reduction.
Hun Sen was expected to host Thaksin for dinner Wednesday night. On Thursday, Thaksin is scheduled to give a speech to more than 300 officials at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The row over the former prime minister, who lives in exile but maintains a following in Thailand strong enough to upset the ruling party, has deepened an ongoing crisis over border areas near Preah Vihear temple, where soldiers form each country have been entrenched since July 2008.
It has also potentially damaged an agreement over offshore oil blocks. Thailand has threatened to cancel an existing agreement on an overlapping 26,000 square kilometers of sea area thought to harbor oil reserves.
Cambodian officials say it would be difficult to cancel the agreement, made in 2001, which has allowed progress on offshore oil exploration that would be potentially lucrative for the country.

Thaksin Visit Marks Low in Bilateral Relations: Analysts

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh12 November 2009
The presence of Thaksin Shinawatra in Phnom Penh is pushing a political battle between Cambodia and Thailand to one of its worst points in years, analysts said this week.
The visit of the ousted prime minister has caused the mutual withdrawal of ambassadors, the potential scuppering of an offshore oil agreement, and the threat of closed borders, and could lead to chronic disputes between the neighbors, analysts say.
Thaksin addressed a gathering of Cambodian officials Thursday, taking on his first duty in a controversial role as economic adviser to the government. Cambodia has strong potential in agriculture, tourism and oil, Thaksin said.
Speaking to more than 300 officials at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Thaksin noted Cambodia’s rapid economic growth rate in recent years, before the financial crisis brought a shrinking of 2.5 percent this year.
In order to counter the crisis, he said, Cambodia must act fast to improve its products and services. Cambodia could also consider working together to promote tourism with Burma, Laos and Thailand.
Thaksin said he would be willing to sit down with a small group to discuss how to improve the tourism industry, including joint promotions with other countries, especially, he said, with Thailand.

Okada vows Japan 's support for Mekong, calls for democracy in Myanmar (2nd Lead)

SIEM REAP, Cambodia , Oct. 3 KYODO -- (EDS: UPDATING WITH MORE DETAILS) Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Saturday that Japan is preparing to boost economic assistance to countries in the Mekong region, which the country describes as a priority area for cooperation. ''We would like to make greater contributions than ever to the Mekong region,'' Okada said in a meeting with his counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, who urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs and swiftly return to the six-party denuclearization talks. Okada also pledged that the new Japanese administration led by the Democratic Party of Japan will actively engage in diplomacy with Asian countries with its ''long-term vision'' to create an ''East Asian community.'' Underlining its policy direction for the region, Japan also insisted that a paragraph on the need for democracy in junta-ruled Myanmar be included in the chairman's statement wrapping up the foreign ministers' meeting. Myanmar, whose draconian regime has long been a thorn in regional relations with other countries, had tried to have all reference to the country's political system and repression of dissidents such as democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi expunged from the chairman's summing up of the meeting, but sources close to the meeting told Kyodo News that Japan refused to participate in a whitewash. The sources said Myanmar made both written and verbal protests over mention of its political situation, claiming the ''primary objective'' of Mekong-Japan cooperation is to promote ''regional development, friendship and mutual understanding'' and the meeting is ''not a forum for political dialogue.'' But Japan , the sources said, allowed only a slight softening of the language in the chairman's statement, insisting that the meeting call for free and fair elections in Myanmar . The final statement says: ''On the situation in Myanmar , the ministers believed that the upcoming general elections in 2010 would be transparent, democratic and inclusive. The ministers welcome recent positive steps taken by the government of Myanmar in its democratization process, including the release of more than 7,000 prisoners.'' A mention of Suu Kyi, who has been in jail or under house arrest in Yangon for most of the past two decades, was left out of the final version, but Okada made clear in a joint press conference with other foreign ministers that her release is part of Japan 's vision for the region. Okada said he discussed issues related to Myanmar in the meeting with his Mekong counterparts and told them Japan would ''look forward to seeing free and fair elections,'' promised for next year, with the participation of all political parties and ''the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.'' The Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Siem Reap, home of the Angkor Wat temple complex in northwestern Cambodia , was also aimed at laying the groundwork for a summit meeting between the leaders of Japan and the five Mekong region countries, which they agreed Saturday to hold in Tokyo on Nov. 6-7. The Mekong countries reaffirmed their support for Japan 's pledge to aim for a 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels and the country's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.
KyodoOctober 03, 2009

New Japanese government pledges to continue aid Cambodia

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Oct. 3 KYODO
New Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada assured his Cambodian counterpart Saturday that despite a change of government in Japan, policy toward Cambodia remains unchanged, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said after meeting with Okada. Hor Namhong, also deputy prime minister, said the pledge was made by Okada during bilateral talks on the sideline of the second Mekong-Japan foreign ministerial meeting in Cambodia 's northern province Siem Reap. In a separate press briefing, Kazuo Okada, press secretary of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, said the foreign minister touched on several issues during his meeting with Hor Namhong, including the Khmer Rouge trial, Japanese official development assistance, investment, removal of land mines and Japanese nongovernmental organizations working in Cambodia . On demining, Okada said Japan is planning to provide 1.1 billion yen for removal of unexploded ordnance, while at the same time Japan is committed to continue supporting the trial process of former leaders of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, according to the press secretary. Japan has been the leading donor to Cambodia after the signing of the Cambodia Peace Agreement in 1991.
KyodoOctober 03, 2009

U.S. examining Cambodian request for relief, foreign minister says

PHNOM PENH , Oct. 1 KYODO
The United States has accepted and is taking into consideration a request for debt relief by Cambodia , Hor Namhong, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said Thursday shortly after returning from New York . He said he raised the issue of debts owed by Cambodia for 37 years during bilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of States Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Hor Namhong added he also proposed that if the United States could not cancel the debts outright, it might replace it as being grants for development in education and health. Cheam Yeap, chairman of National Assembly's Economic Commission and a senior member of the Cambodian People's Party, told Kyodo News recently the Lon Nol government borrowed from the United States $162 million in 1972 but due to interest compounding for the last 37 years, the debts have doubled to more than $300 million. The United States backed the Lon Nol government that ruled the country from 1970 until it was toppled by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. According to Cheam Yeap , China , from which the Khmer Rouge government borrowed more than $200 million, has already written off those debts and Hungary has written off some $3 million. He said the International Monetary Fund canceled Cambodian debts of $82 million. Cambodia is also seeking debt relief from Russia , to which it owes $1.5 billion. That money was borrowed by the then People's Republic of Kampuchea in the 1980s, but no official reply on the matter has yet been received, Cheam Yeap said.
Kyodo October 01, 2009　

8 people killed, 12 injured as typhoon Ketsana hits Cambodia

PHNOM PENH , Sept. 29 KYODO -- At least eight people died Tuesday as typhoon Ketsana lashed central Cambodia and destroyed at least 30 houses, a local official said. Chea Seath, director of Provincial Red Cross in Kompong Thom Province, said 12 people were injured as the typhoon pummeled the Sandan district in Kompong Thom, about 240 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh. The bodies of those killed were found inside damaged houses in Kompong Thom, Chea Seath said. Rattanakiri Province was also hit by the typhoon but it is not immediately known whether there were casualties there.
Kyodo
September 29, 2009

Cambodia seeks seat at UNESCO

PHNOM PENH , Sept. 10

Cambodian government will soon apply its candidacy to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for a seat in the World Heritage Committee.
Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Office of the Council of Ministers said Thursday that Cambodia will formally apply to the UNESCO.
He said the application will be taken shortly because the elections are scheduled to take place on October 23-28 in Paris , and adding that if Cambodia is elected, Cambodia will serve only four years from the original terms of six years.
He said the move to take less years is to allow other state parties to have opportunity to be part of the committee.
Following Cambodia ’s application for the seat at the World Heritage Committee, Teruo Jinnai, UNESCO’s office chief in Cambodia said he welcomed Cambodia ’s move seeking to be on board.
Until now, UNESCO has registered Cambodia ’s two historical sites as the World Heritage, namely Angkor Wat Temple and Preah Vihear Temple in 1992 and 2008 respectively.
Also, in 2003 UNESCO listed Cambodian Classical Dance as another World Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Phay Siphan said Cambodia has thousands of heritage sites, preservation projects as well as cultural sites.