Sunday, February 20, 2011

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"Kamchat Sva Chenh" a Poem in Khmer by Sék Serei

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 05:00 PM PST

Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa -- country by country...[Cambodia next?]

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 01:31 PM PST

By the CNN Wire Staff
February 20, 2011

(CNN) -- Two months ago, a Tunisian fruit vendor struck a match that started a fire that has spread throughout much of North Africa and the Middle East. Muhammad Bouazizi's self-immolation prompted anti-government protests that toppled regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. Here are the latest developments, including the roots of the unrest, as well as a look at previous events in affected countries.

Saturday developments:

LIBYA

Protests continued to turn violent Saturday, however the death and injury toll is unclear. The government has not responded to repeated requests by news media outlets, including CNN, to allow reporters into the country. In Benghazi, witnesses reported bloody clashes with soldiers firing tear gas and bullets. A doctor treating the injured at Al Jala hospital said at least 30 people were killed, most of them from gunshot wounds to the head. Witnesses said protests had erupted in cities across the country, including al-Baida, Ajdabiya and Misratah, where anti-government protesters leaving noon prayers at a local mosque were confronted by demonstrators supportive of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Witnesses also said anti-Gadhafi protesters used a bulldozer to break through a wall at Alfadeel Abu-Omar military camp only to be fired upon as they retreated. A report aired on state-run Libyan television characterized demonstrators as saboteurs. Human Rights Watch reports that 84 people have been killed in Libyan demonstrations since Tuesday. The organization bases that estimate on telephone calls made to medical providers across the country.

Roots of unrest:

Protests in Libya, ruled by Gadhafi since a 1969 coup, began in January when demonstrators, fed up with delays, broke into a housing project the government was building and occupied it. Gadhafi's government responded with a $24 billion fund for housing and development. A month later, more demonstrations were sparked when police detained relatives of those killed in an alleged 1996 massacre at the Abu Salim prison, according to Human Rights Watch. High unemployment has also fueled the protests, as have anti-Gadhafi groups.

BAHRAIN

Thousands of Bahraini protesters returned to Pearl Roundabout on Saturday, two days after a deadly attack by security forces that left four dead and scores wounded. Crown PrinceSalman ordered the military out of the center of the nation's capital and announced that protesters could remain there without fear of being attacked, a key demand demonstrators had made. The crown prince indicated he is deeply sorry for the deaths of protesters and said an investigation will be launched and that those responsible will be held accountable. Salman also said the government is willing to enter into talks with demonstrators.

Roots of unrest:

Protesters initially took to the streets of Manama on Monday to demand reform and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. But some are now calling for the removal of the royal family, which has led the Persian Gulf island state since the 18th century. Young members of the country's Shiite Muslim majority have staged violent protests in recent years to complain about discrimination, unemployment and corruption, issues they say the country's Sunni rulers have done little to address. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights says authorities launched a clampdown on dissent in late 2010. It accused the government of torturing some human rights activists.

YEMEN

As Saturday's protests left six people wounded, President Ali Abdullah Saleh blamed the unrest on foreign agendas and a plot against Yemen's stability, according to the state-run Saba news agency. Hundreds of Yemeni anti-government protesters clashed with pro-government demonstrators at Sanaa University, eyewitnesses and a local human rightsgroup said. Gunshots were fired into the crowd, leaving at least six wounded, they said. The brother of a protester who was wounded during the demonstration blamed the violence on several dozen pro-government gang members who "were randomly shooting at us."

Roots of unrest:

Protesters have called for the ouster of Saleh, who has ruled Yemen since 1978. The country has been racked by a Shiite Muslim uprising, a U.S.-aided crackdown on al Qaeda operatives and a looming shortage of water. As in other countries, high unemployment fuels much of the anger among a growing young population steeped in poverty. The protesters also cite government corruption and a lack of political freedom.

IRAN

Anti-government websites reported Saturday that the daughters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, haven't had contact with their parents since Wednesday. The websites reported that Moussavi and his wife remain under house arrest after he called for widespread anti-government demonstrations Monday.

Roots of unrest:

Opposition to the ruling clerics has simmered since the country's 2009 election, when hundreds of thousands of people filled Tehran streets to denounce the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as fraudulent.

EGYPT

Waving flags and beating drums, thousands gathered at Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday for a planned "Day of Victory" rally to celebrate the one-week anniversary of the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The march at the square -- the epicenter of 18 days of protests that led to Mubarak stepping down -- is also meant to remind the military that Egyptians were watching the ongoing reform process. Celebrations were expected in othercities across the nation as well. The military has been in charge since February 11, when Mubarak's resignation was announced. Meanwhile, G20 leaders concluded a two-day meeting in Paris on Saturday with pledges to support the new emerging governments of Egypt and Tunisia.

Roots of unrest:

Complaints about police corruption and abuses were among the top grievances of demonstrators who forced Mubarak from office last week. Demonstrators were also angry about Mubarak's 30-year rule, a lack of free elections and many economic issues, including high food prices, low wages and high unemployment.

JORDAN

About 200 people calling for reforms clashed with pro-government demonstrators in downtown Amman on Friday. Several were injured. The anti-government protesters called for reforms and for abolishing the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. Anti-government protesters who participated in Friday's demonstration included leftists and independent activists demanding political and economic reforms.

Roots of unrest:

Jordan's economy has been hit hard by the global economic downturn and rising commodity prices, and youth unemployment is high, as it is in Egypt. Officials close to the palace have told CNN that Abdullah is trying to turn a regional upheaval into an opportunityfor reform. King Abdullah II swore in a new government following anti-government protests in his country. The new government has a mandate for political reform and is headed by a former general, with several opposition and media figures among its ranks. Some protesters have also called for the abolishment of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel.

IRAQ

Clashes Saturday between police and protesters in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region left 14 people injured, according to a regional health official. Witnesses said police used water cannons and fired weapons over the heads of rock-throwing demonstrators in Sulaimaniya, who had taken to the streets to protest the violent response of security forces that killed one demonstrator and injured 57 after they attacked the local offices of ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party. The Kurdistan regional president, Massoud Barzani, heads the party and became a target of protesters' anger on Saturday. In Baghdad, hundreds of people rallied to demand that the government give orphans and widows monthly stipends.

Roots of unrest:

Demonstrations in Iraq, unlike in other parts of the Mideast and North Africa, have usually not targeted the national government. Instead, the protesters are angry about corruption, the quality of basic services, a crumbling infrastructure and high unemployment, particularly on a local level. They want an end to frequent power outages and food shortages.
KUWAIT
Protesters in Kuwait clashed with security forces on Saturday, the second straight day of unrest in the tiny Persian Gulf nation. The demonstration occurred in Sulaibiya, just north of Kuwait City, witnesses and a government official said. Hundreds of protesters demanding greater rights for longtime residents who are not citizens of the country demanded the release of people arrested in demonstrations Friday. The protesters attacked the security forces, who managed to disperse the people and make arrests, he said. The forces used tear gas on the demonstration involving between 200 and 400 protesters.
Roots of unrest:
Protesters are seeking greater rights for longtime residents who are not Kuwaiti citizens, an issue the country has been grappling with for decades. There are believed to be 100,000 non-citizens living in the country.

DJIBOUTI

Thousands of people marched in protest through Djibouti on Friday. Riot police charged the crowd after the call to evening prayers, shooting canisters of tear gas at the demonstrators, according to Aly Verjee, director of the international election observation mission to Djibouti, who witnessed the event. Djibouti is home to Camp Lemonnier, the only U.S. military base on the African continent.

Roots of unrest:

Protesters have called for President Ismail Omar Guelleh -- whose family has ruled the country since its independence from France in 1977 -- to step down ahead of the elections scheduled in April. Guelleh has held the post since 1999 and is seeking a third term. Economic stagnation is also a source of anger among the people of Djibouti.
Here's a look at some key recent events related to unrest in the Middle East and North Africa:

ALGERIA

Protesters have demanded government reform, prompting authorities to say they will soon lift a state of emergency that was imposed in 1992 to quell a civil war that led to the deaths of more than 150,000. The rule was used to clamp down on Islamist groups, but critics say the insurgency has long since diminished and the law exists only to muzzle government critics.

Roots of unrest:

Protests began in January over escalating food prices, high rates of unemployment and housing issues. They started in Algiers, but spread to other cities as more people joined and demonstrators toppled regimes in neighboring Tunisia, and later Egypt. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that he would lift the state of emergency law in what analysts said was an attempt to head off a similar revolt.

SUDAN

Demonstrators have clashed with authorities on several recent occasions in Sudan. Human Rights Watch has said that "authorities used excessive force during largely peaceful protests on January 30 and 31 in Khartoum and other northern cities." Witnesses said that several people were arrested, including 20 who remain missing.

Roots of unrest:

Demonstrators seek an end to the National Congress Party rule and government-imposed price increases, according to Human Rights Watch. It accuses the government of being heavy-handed in its response to demonstrations, and using pipes, sticks and tear gas to disperse protesters.

SYRIA

As protests heated up around the region, the Syrian government pulled back from a plan to withdraw some subsidies that keep the cost of living down in the country. President Bashar al-Assad also gave a rare interview to Western media, telling The Wall Street Journal last month that he planned reforms that would allow local elections and included a new media law and more power for private organizations. A planned "Day of Rage" that was being organized on Facebook against the al-Assad government failed to materialize, The New York Times reported.

Roots of unrest:

Opponents of the al-Assad government claim massive human rights abuses and an emergency law has been in effect since 1963.

TUNISIA

An uprising in Tunisia prompted autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to leave the country on January 14, after weeks of demonstrations. Those demonstrations sparked protests around North Africa and the Middle East.

Roots of unrest:

The revolt was triggered when an unemployed college graduate set himself ablaze after police confiscated his fruit cart, cutting off his source of income. Protesters complained about high unemployment, corruption, rising prices and political repression.

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Hundreds of Palestinians rallied for unity in Ramallah on Thursday, calling on Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian political factions to heal their rifts amid arguments over elections scheduled for September in the Palestinian territories. "Division generates corruption," was one of several slogans written on banners held up by the demonstrators, who flooded the streets after calls went out on social networking sites, as well as schools and university campuses, for them to attend.

Roots of unrest:

The Palestinian territories have not seen the kind of demonstrations as in many Arab countries, but the Fatah leaders of the Palestinian Authority have been under criticism since Al-Jazeera published secret papers claiming to reveal that Palestinian officials were prepared to make wide-ranging concessions in negotiations with Israel. Negotiations toward a resolution of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict have since collapsed. Palestinian protests, largely in support of Egypt and Tunisia, were generally small and poorly attended, and in some cases the Hamas rulers of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority rulers of the West Bank actively tried to stifle protests. The split between Hamas and Fatah hampers internal change in the territories, although calls for political change are growing louder among Palestinians. Large-scale protests, as seen elsewhere in the Arab world, have failed to materialize, as many Palestinians believe their problem remains the Israeli occupation.

It was all talk with nothing being said

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 01:03 PM PST

21/02/2011
Bangkok Post

There's no doubt that the real winner in the ''speech'' contest in New York last Monday was the host, the United Nations Security Council.

The council called a meeting at the UN headquarters to hear statements on the Thai-Cambodian border strife from Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong, who then simply walked out of the room.

The UN body carefully and intentionally made sure this ''contest'' ended with the Thai and Cambodian speakers being able to return home claiming a moral victory.

The public, both here and in Cambodia, should not get carried away with the claims made by Mr Kasit, Hor Namhong, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva or Cambodian leader Hun Sen. What they said was merely for domestic political consumption. No one wants to admit they were the loser; that would be a political disaster for both countries.


The real winner last week was neither Thailand nor Cambodia. It was the Security Council itself which showed the world what carefully designed diplomacy is all about. It made Cambodia look like the winner when the UN security body decided to take up the issue after the first exchange of gunfire on Feb 4 near Preah Vihear. That's what Hun Sen wanted from the beginning. Then it turned to Thailand and made the kingdom look like the winner, too, with the decision not to position blue-beret peacekeepers at the border and made no legally binding decision. Council members just wanted this matter to end for good in talks, not by tanks, and give the Association of Southeast Asian Nations a chance to play a role to mend the rift, if not to solve the problem.

If the border area contained oil reserves, the council would not have made the decision this way. Had this incident taken place some 40 years ago when one country after another was falling to the Communists, the call by the council would have been another thing. Sure, the border spat is something that has other Asean members worried. But it has only limited impact on regional security as it is being seen as two neighbours quarreling with each other in a game tinged with national pride, political motives and, unfortunately, unnecessary loss of life and injuries to soldiers and ordinary people.

In the speeches delivered by the Thai and Cambodian ministers last week, the two countries took different positions, making accusations against each other and, for Thailand in particular, unnecessarily reminding the international community of what Thailand has done for the neighbour as it was recovering from its own internal strife _ thus there is no reason for the kingdom to start an armed fight with Cambodia.

''We have attached great importance to maintaining and promoting friendly relations with Cambodia. We gave refuge to millions of Cambodian refugees. We were supportive of the peace process in Cambodia with Thai soldiers participating in peacekeeping efforts in Cambodia under the United Nations and were active in the reconstruction of Cambodia,'' Mr Kasit said in his statement. Hor Namhong was very strong when he tried to convince the Security Council to do something against ''Thailand 's aggression which has gravely endangered peace and stability in the region'' by dispatching UN peacekeepers or observers to the disputed frontier.

But it would be too pessimistic to say that there is no chance to find a solution to the problem by leaders in their capitals, with or without help from Asean. Thailand does not want the sovereignty issue of that 4.6 square kilometre areas to be dragged into the World Court, given the bitter history of the World Court's ruling over Preah Vihear. Cambodia is not willing to talk it over with Thailand alone and, after almost 50 years, it is still boosted by the court's favourable ruling on the temple. The process will be long, painful and no guarantee that the 1962 victory will be repeated.

A chance for a solution with a win-win situation to this problem begins with the strong political will of their leaders. Thus far, it has not been found in Bangkok nor Phnom Penh.
----------------
Saritdet Marukatat is Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post.

Border conflict poses more questions than answers [... but Abhisit denied any truce was signed???]

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 12:59 PM PST

21/02/2011
Bangkok Post
Lt Gen Hun Manet was in charge of the troops in the recent clashes as it was his chance to prove his worth. However, the heavy losses suffered by Cambodia bodes unfavourably for the deputy army chief.
The ceasefire agreement struck between Thailand and Cambodia poses the interesting question of whether it signifies the beginning of the end or the other way around. The ceasefire has been reached "pending" negotiations that many hope will bring a permanent solution to the border conflict.

In other words, the truce agreed to by the two sides with immediate effect on Saturday at the Chong Sa-ngam Pass border crossing in Si Sa Ket province is only a vehicle to achieving something permanent. Opinion may be split as some might wonder if the ceasefire marks the beginning of the end of the longstanding border hostility or whether it is the end of the beginning of the rough negotiations over the bitter border dispute with peaceful resolution from further rounds of talk far from guaranteed.

The fine print in the ceasefire agreement comes across as supporting the latter theory.

Both sides must hold their fire and not deploy more troops. Fair enough. But all these conditions could be tossed aside if the Asean ministerial meeting tomorrow does not make headway in easing the border violence.


Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen, do not agree on some key issues, especially on a permanent ceasefire deal.

Hun Sen has said Cambodia would urge Thailand to agree to a peace deal at the Asean meeting.

Mr Abhisit insists Thailand did not start the fight and it is premature to talk about signing any agreement at the Asean meeting, a position reiterated by Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya yesterday.

With a permanent ceasefire unlikely any time soon, a renewed border offensive could be possible.

The confrontation between Thai and Cambodia is in a precarious state. Each side has deployed about 15,000 troops in the disputed area in Si Sa Ket. Heavy artillery faces heavy artillery.

The fact Hun Manet, Cambodia's deputy army chief and son of Hun Sen, came to the ceasefire table in Si Sa Ket as head of the Cambodian delegation was apparently aimed at assuring Thailand the truce would materialise. The Thai side led by army chief-of-staff Daopong Rattanasuwan expected border clashes to ease but ruled out the possibility of an immediate permanent ceasefire.

At 33 years old, Lt Gen Hun Manet, who holds a PhD in economics from Britain, has been thrust into the military leadership. He has not been widely accepted by the rank and file troops stationed in the forests along the border.

Many Cambodian troops are termed "forest soldiers" who spend much of their lives policing the borders. They are not considered by many to be well-disciplined.

Lt Gen Hun Manet may not be able to command all of them, fuelling uncertainty as to how the ceasefire agreement is practical.

Lt Gen Hun Manet was in charge of the troops in the recent clashes as it was his chance to prove his worth. However, the heavy losses suffered by Cambodia bodes unfavourably for the deputy army chief.

The Cambodian soldiers are eager to occupy the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre border area. They may look for an opportunity to launch a fresh attack on Thai soldiers who are abiding by the ceasefire agreement by staying in their positions.

Observations were made that the Chong Sa-ngam truce may be disadvantageous to Thailand.

Cambodia recognises Thailand's superior military capability. That is the reason Cambodia proposed in the ceasefire agreement that the artillery and armaments not be moved.

The ban on the construction of roads stipulated in the ceasefire also means Thailand has to suspend work on a gravel road leading to the disputed area to serve as a supply route.

Thailand welcomed the truce as the government feels that negotiations are the best option. If the fighting continued, the clashes would degenerate into war, which Hun Sen would use to justify his demand for intervention by United Nations peacekeeping troops in the disputed border affair.

If that happens, Thailand will find it hard to defend itself in legal terms and maintain its reputation in the eyes of the world community.

It is calculated that an all-out military offensive does not present a solution to the conflict. At the end of the day, the conflict will be thrashed out at the negotiating table.

However, negotiations after a war has been waged and the issue "internationalised" will work against the interests of Thailand and the country might possibly be seen as bullying its smaller neighbour.

The conflict would also heap even more political pressure on the government, which may not survive the crunch.

[Thai] PM denies truce signed [-Another Thai flip-flop?]

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 12:50 PM PST

Govt emphasises need for detailed negotiation

21/02/2011
PRADIT RUANGDIT
Bangkok Post

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva denies a ceasefire agreement has been signed with Cambodia.

The prime minister said again in his weekly broadcast address yesterday that his government believed that a lasting solution to the border dispute could only come through careful negotiation.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers meet in Jakarta tomorrow to find ways to solve the border dispute, but Mr Abhisit said the regional grouping would only act as a coordinator and as a witness, as well as provide a facility for talks between Thailand and Cambodia.

He and members of the cabinet, including the foreign, defence and the natural resources ministers, would be responsible for explaining the border situation to the world community so people could better understand the situation.

Mr Abhisit said he had talked on the phone with Unesco director-general Irina Bokova about the problems arising from the listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a world heritage site. He said Unesco should suspend the process of listing the surrounding area until the border problem was settled.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said yesterday the proposed permanent ceasefire was unnecessary. Peace on the border could be achieved through existing bilateral mechanisms.


These include the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Committee, the Thai-Cambodia General Border Committee and the Thai-Cambodian Regional Border Committee.

Mr Kasit yesterday attended a meeting to discuss preparations for the Asean meeting in Jakarta tomorrow, which will be attended by all 10 member nations' foreign ministers.

A delegation led by army chief-of-staff Daopong Rattanasuwan was reported on Saturday to have signed a ceasefire agreement with Phnom Penh, whose team was headed by deputy army commander Hun Manet, the son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

But Mr Kasit insisted the meeting on Saturday was not about negotiations.

It was merely a discussion between military authorities and the results would be referred to higher authorities for a decision on what next step to take.

The minister said no agreement had been reached and there were no binding effects from the talks.

"It was only a discussion," he said. "It was like sending subordinates to meet for talks and having them report the results [to those in higher places]."

Mr Kasit said any formal negotiations would involve the defence ministers of the two countries under the framework of the General Border Committee.

Mr Kasit said he would emphasise Thailand's position at the Asean foreign ministers' meeting tomorrow that it wished to resolve the border conflict through bilateral mechanisms, including the Joint Boundary Committee, chaired by Asda Jayanama, the General Border Committee, led by Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, and the Regional Border Committee, headed by 2nd Army chief Thawatchai Samutsakhon.

"We will explain that the JBC, the GBC and the RBC have been making progress and they can continue to act in line with a UN Security Council resolution [supporting bilateral talks to settle the dispute]."

The minister said he would also reaffirm Thailand's readiness to allow Asean to act as a facilitator in talks between Thailand and Cambodia.

He said Mr Asda had written to ask the head of the Cambodian delegation to attend a Joint Boundary Committee meeting in Bangkok.

Gen Prawit will also send a letter to ask his Cambodian counterpart, Gen Teah Banh, to hold a General Border Committee meeting in Cambodia in the middle of the year, Mr Kasit said.

The joint committee focuses on border demarcation talks while the general committee involves border security arrangements, particularly a ceasefire, Mr Kasit said.

He said Thailand is ready for talks under the framework set by the two committees, and it was up to Cambodia to decide whether it would enter the talks.

He said Thailand would also ask Indonesia, as Asean chair, to send its representatives to observe the operations of Thai soldiers in the disputed area.

He said the observers would stay with Thai soldiers on the Thai side of the border so they could see for themselves that Thailand was not the instigator of any violence.

[Thai] Govt asks Indonesia to send observers [-Thailand's flip-flopping on observer issues is UNBELIEVABLE!!!]

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 12:15 PM PST

February 21, 2011
The Nation

Cambodia may propose Asean monitors to be based at Preah Vihear Temple

Thailand continued its delicate diplomatic manoeuvring over its territorial conflict with Cambodia yesterday with an invitation for Indonesia, in its capacity as Asean chair, to send observers to the border.

Bangkok has also reaffirmed its stance that existing bilateral mechanisms can solve the dispute.

In a statement underlying Thailand's cautious approach in regard to Asean, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said the Thai government expected the regional group's involvement would ensure talks between the two countries stay on course.

"I strongly insist the Thai side will rely on bilateral [consultations] with Cambodia," he said.


Talks on the boundary would be led by ambassador Asda Jayanama, while talks on border cooperation would be led by Defence Minister Prawit Wongsu-wan, and talks on regional affairs would be led by 2nd Army Region commander Lt General Thawatchai Samutsakorn.

Kasit was speaking after a high-level meeting to map out the Thai position ahead of the Asean meeting of foreign ministers in Jakarta tomorrow to discuss the Thai-Cambodian conflict.

The Asean meeting will be a follow-up to the statement by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), he said, alluding to the call to use existing mechanisms to resolve the border row.

He said Thai-Cambodian talks were still a viable way to resolve the border dispute. Asean's involvement to facilitate the talks, as suggested by the UNSC, was in line with keeping the negotiations at a bilateral level.

The Thai side has already mapped out an invitation to restart the Joint Boundary Committee and the General Border Commission. Prawit had also signalled a readiness for the next meeting to be hosted by Phnom Penh, he said.

Commenting on the ceasefiredeal between the two armed forces on Saturday, Prawit said it was not a formal document but an outcome of an informal meeting between military leaders.

Military leaders from the two sides reported back on the truce they had mapped out pending a review by their respective governments, he said.

To show their goodwill for a truce, the Thai side would request the presence of Indonesian observers deployed with Thai troops along the border, he said. Prawit hinted at a possible counter proposal as Cambodia has indicated it wants Asean observers to be stationed at Preah Vihear Temple.

Observers see Thailand's diplomacy as treading between keeping Asean at a distance and recognising the grouping's role by showing faith in the chair country, currently Indonesia.

Kasit said the Thai side deemed it unnecessary to formalise and sign the ceasefire agreement since the dispute could be settled through bilateral talks.

He said Unesco agreed with Thailand that deploying peacekeeping forces at the temple would violate the Bern Convention.

Today the Defence Ministry is due to take foreign military attaches from Bangkok to inspect the civilian damage caused by the border flare-up.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Saturday's meeting between military leaders did not represent a formal deal between the two governments.

Abhisit said he clearly outlined to Unesco that the border dispute covering the 4.6 square kilometres was a sensitive issue not linked to the listing of the temple as a World Heritage Site. The dispute had to be resolved by the two countries without any interference from Unesco and other outside parties.

Meanwhile, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) yesterday slammed the border truce with Cambodia as a "stupid deal" coming at the expense of Thai territory.

"Thailand is at a huge disadvantage as Cambodia has already seized areas surrounding Preah Vihear Temple," spokesman Panthep Pour-pongpan claimed.

On Saturday, Army Chief-of-Staff General Dapong Rattanasuan and Cambodian Deputy Supreme Commander General Jia Dara reached an eight-point agreement to halt hostilities after negotiations at Surin's Chong Sangam border checkpoint.

The PAD condemned the cease-fire, particularly the ban on the use of heavy weapons, because it limited Thailand's options in repelling Cambodian encroachment, Panthep said.

"Rodh Plae Lvea" a Poem in Khmer by Nore Yutt

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 09:37 AM PST

China Tightens Security Ahead of Calls for Nationwide Protests [-The Jasmine Revolution fragrance reaches China?]

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 07:19 AM PST

Police officers ask a journalist, lower right, to leave as he covers people gathering in front of a McDonald's restaurant which was a planned protest site in Beijing, February 20, 2011. (Photo: AP)
The square in front of the McDonald's restaurant during the peak of the rally (VOA)

Stephanie Ho, Voice of America
Beijing February 20, 2011

China has increased the presence of security forces around the country in response to an on-line call for nationwide demonstrations in solidarity with the so-called "Jasmine Revolutions" in the Middle East.

An online posting on the Internet called for demonstrations around the country Sunday, to mark what it called "China's Jasmine Revolution."

The appeal went out to all Chinese who feel there is injustice in the country -- including parents whose children suffered from tainted milk, people who feel their homes were unjustly torn down, and people who are upset at the abuse of official privilege.


The appeal urged people to go to designated locations in cities around the country, watch the developments and, if brave enough, shout out demands.

In Beijing Sunday, a few hundred people gathered quietly in front of a fast food restaurant near Tiananmen Square in the center of the city.

The only real noise from the demonstration was uniformed police officers moving through the crowd to try to disperse people. Eyewitnesses say the demonstrators did not chant slogans nor display banners, and did not talk to journalists at the scene.

Prior to Sunday's gathering, authorities detained a number of activists, including prominent human rights lawyers.

Internet activist Tian Tian says she saw an unmarked car drive away with lawyer Xu Zhiyong early Sunday morning, when she went to the Beijing home of Teng Biao, another lawyer who also had been taken away.

She says she believes the detentions have to do with Sunday's demonstrations, because authorities asked activists what their plans are for Sunday and urged them not to go out.

Meanwhile, the demonstrations in China were making their mark on the Internet social network, Twitter, where a hashtag set up for that topic received one thousand messages a minute by Sunday evening.

Many tweets about the Beijing demonstration agreed there were "lots of people," but that it was hard to tell who among them were actually protesters.

One tweet implied that nothing happened and joked that everyone should just go home because the crowd was all made up of plain clothes police.

On Monday, Aunty Bun Rany will receive the title of “Famous Person” from the UN

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 07:05 AM PST

Chumteav BANDIT Bun Rany Hun Xen

20 Feb 2011
By Koh Ekreach
Koh Santepheap
Translated from Khmer by Oss Dendey
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Phnom Penh – Tomorrow, i.e. on Monday 21 Feb 2011, the UN will bestow the title of "famous person" to the Chumteav Bandit Bun Rany Hin Xen for her joint action with the UN Secretary-general in women and children's health. The ceremony will take place at the peaceful building of the Council of Ministers.

The UN will bestow this "famous person" title based on the strong work action by the Chumteav – whom we are proud of – to help save the poor and the victims without discrimination and political discrimination [KI-Media note: only if they belong to the CPP]. She also maintains her role of generosity and she also raises the value of women and children's health.

The ceremony to bestow the title of "famous person" to Chumteav Bandit Bun Rany Hin Xen will be held under the presence of Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-general, who will visit Cambodia on 21 February. [KI-Media Note: This must be a stealth visit by Ban Ki-moon to Cambodia, we have not heard any announcement to this effect].

Som Niyeay Phorng - Op-Ed by Angkor Borei News

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 06:43 AM PST

Click on the article in Khmer to zoom in

Storms destroy more than 30 houses

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 06:41 AM PST

Sunday, 20 February 2011
Thet Sambath
The Phnom Penh Post

More than 30 houses spanning two provinces in northwestern Cambodia were destroyed by storms on Friday.

In Oddar Meanchey, 29 houses were destroyed by a storm on Friday in Banteay Ampil, Anlong Veng and Samrong districts, Pich Sokhin, deputy governor of Banteay Meanchey province, said today.

"Twenty-nine houses were destroyed by the storm but no people were injured," he said, adding that initially the storm did not appear to be serious.

"I have not yet received a report on other casualties from the storm. I am asking my officials to check," he said.


Srey Naren, a coordinator for the rights group Adhoc in Oddor Meanchey province, said today that a number of military houses located in the province were also destroyed by the storm.

The storm also struck Banteay Meanchey province on Friday, damaging six houses in O'chrouv district, Ung Oeun, governor of Banteay Meanchey province, said today.

"We have six people's houses damaged by the storm. It is not serious damage," he said.

Provincial authorities and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces deputy commander-in-chief Kun Kim have provided each of the 29 families affected by the storm with 25 kilograms of rice and 50,000 riels.

"Storms have attacked our province every year. We are working to assist and advise people to be careful and prevent any casualties in the future", Pich Sokhin added today.

Nhim Vanda, vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management, said today that no casualties were reported from lightning strikes and he is assisting families who were affected by the storm in Oddar Meanchey province.

Officials from the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology could not be reached for comment today.

Kasit said signing of a ceasefire agreement is not necessary (sic!)

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 06:35 AM PST

Thailand affirms bilateral means to solving border conflict

BANGKOK, Feb 20 - Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya reaffirmed Thailand's stance to solving Thai-Cambodian dispute at a bilateral level at the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting in Indonesia due to be held on February 22.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday afternoon called a meeting with Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and Army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha to discuss Thailand's stance at the upcoming ASEAN foreign ministers meeting.

After the one-hour meeting, Mr Kasit said that he would affirm solutions to border conflict through existing bilateral mechanisms between Thailand and Cambodia, particularly Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC), General Border Committee (GBC) and Cambodian Regional Border Committee (RBC) after the UN Security Council (UNSC) recommended bilateral talks to end Thai-Cambodian dispute facilitated by ASEAN.


"At the meeting on Tuesday in Jakarta, I will insist that Thailand is ready to use the bilateral mechanism that already exists with Cambodia," Mr Kasit said after the meeting.

He said he would clarify at the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting, that progress has been made in the committees meetings and Thailand would continue solving the dispute as suggested by the UNSC.

Thailand sent a letter to invite Cambodia to attend the JBC meeting in Bangkok scheduled to be held later this month and under the JBC framework, Thai defence minister will send a letter to Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tea Banh to ask Cambodia to host another JBC meeting.

He hoped that the JBC meeting will be held and defence ministers of the two countries can discuss how to prevent border skirmishes.

Thailand will propose that Indonesia, the current ASEAN chair, send observers to accompany Thai army forces at the border to witness the situation and to ensure the ceasefire will be permanent. He said Thailand affirmed to have the ASEAN chair to facilitate negotiation processes.

Mr Kasit also said signing of a ceasefire agreement is not necessary because the existing JBC mechanism and issuing of statement by the two countries are integral to several processes meant to address the border situation. (MCOT online news)

Border ceasefire brokered [-Kasit Piromya already reneges this ceasefire, read below]

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 06:30 AM PST

A Royal Cambodian Armed Forces soldier relaxes at Preah Vihear temple during a lull in fighting with Thailand earlier this month. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

Cambodian and Thai military commanders have reportedly agreed to a ceasefire in the disputed areas close to Preah Vihear temple, after clashes in the area earlier this month left at least 10 people dead and dozens injured on both sides.

Touch Ra, deputy chief of the border relations office in Oddar Meanchey province, said today that military commanders from the two sides met for a two-hour closed-door meeting on Saturday attended by Hun Manet, Prime Minister Hun Sen's eldest son.

"The result of the meeting has not been revealed as it was held secretly," Touch Ra said.

But he added that since the meeting was conducted, the situation along the border has returned to normal.

"Most of the people have returned to their homes and are continuing with their businesses.


"The situation has calmed down and the people have no more fear of gunfire along the border."

Chea Morn, commander of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Military Region 4, declined to comment today.

The talks followed four days of clashes from February 4-7, in which troops traded artillery, mortar and small arms fire in disputed areas close to Preah Vihear temple, which sustained damage in the skirmishes.

The Bangkok Post reported today that military commanders from both sides had inked a ceasefire agreement following Saturday's talks, though it is unclear whether the agreement will hold.

A previous truce was called on February 5, but violence flared up again the next day.

The paper quoted an army source as saying Second Army commander Thawatchai Samutsakhorn was part of a Thai delegation led by Army chief-of-staff Daopong Rattanasuwan. The Cambodian delegation was led by Hun Manet, according to the report.

"All is well," said Thawatchai Samutsakhorn after the agreement was signed at a restaurant near the Choam Sa-Ngam border crossing between Oddar Meanchey and Sisaket provinces.

The apparent agreement has stoked nationalist sentiment in Thailand, with Yellow Shirt activists from the People's Alliance for Democracy claiming it could disadvantage Thai claims to disputed territories close to Preah Vihear.

At a press conference in Bangkok, Yellow Shirt spokesman Panthep Puapongpan said the conditions under the ceasefire deal had put Thailand in an underdog situation and would lead to a permanent loss of Thai land to Cambodia, the Bangkok Post reported.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva denied the claims in his weekly address today, saying the agreement "will not lead to any loss of Thai soil as speculated".

The agreement comes ahead of a meeting of ASEAN's foreign ministers in Jakarta tomorrow, which is set to discuss the stand-off between Cambodia and Thailand.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said last week that at the meeting Cambodia will press Thailand to sign a permanent ceasefire under ASEAN's auspices, requesting that the bloc deploy observers into disputed border areas.

Thailand has been steadfastly opposed to a multilateral solution to the border conflict, which has erupted into sporadic violence since July 2008, when UNESCO listed Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site over Thai objections.

Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Foreign Minister Hor Namhong will lead a delegation to Indonesia today to attend the meeting.

Thai state media also reported on Saturday that former UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura will next week pay a visit to Bangkok and Phnom Penh to hear both sides' views on the recent conflict, though he will not visit disputed areas along the border.

Abishit takes ASEAN as hostage to force his useless "BILATERAL" negotiations

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 06:20 AM PST

Thai PM reiterates ASEAN will not intervene in Thai-Cambodian talks on border dispute

BANGKOK, Feb 20 (MCOT online news) -- With only two days left before foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Jakarta to explore ways on ending border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva reiterated Sunday that ASEAN would not involve itself in border conflict matters to be discussed by the two neighbouring countries.

Mr Abhisit said during his weekly TV and radio address that the 10-member ASEAN regional grouping would act as "coordinator, witness and provide facility only" while he and concerned ministers including foreign affairs, defence and the natural resources and environment would be responsible for informing the world community to better understand the ongoing border situation.

He said he had discussed on telephone with Irina Bokova, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), on tensions between Thailand and Cambodia as a result of the listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site and it is, therefore, better to suspend the process for the time being until the border problem is settled.


A four-day bloody clashes between soldiers of the two countries erupted near the ancient temple on February 4, killing and wounding many people on both sides as well as forcing evacuation of villagers living near the disputed area.

Meanwhile, the general atmosphere at the Thai border checkpoint in Si Sa Ket province was very quiet Sunday as Cambodians and Thais were reluctant to cross each border for trade.

Thailand rejects Cambodia's call for observers ... but yet asks to have observers embedded wit Thai troops: Thai StuPADity knows no bound?

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 06:16 AM PST

Observers invited to 'embed' with Thai troops : Thai FM

Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Nation

Thailand planned to invite Indonesia to send observers to "embed" with Thai soldiers at the border where Thai troops clashed with Cambodia, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Sunday.

The observers will be witness for the Thai side that it respected the ceasefire with Cambodia.

Kasit was speaking after attending a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the Foreign Ministry on Sunday. The meeting is held in preparation for Asean Foreign Ministers' meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday.

"We would ask Indonesia, chair of Asean, to dispatch observers to embed with the Thai troops at the border where the Thai troops clashed with Cambodian troops. The observers will be our witness that we respect the ceasefire," Kasit said.


Fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops erupted on February 4 and continued although both generals had met on the following day and agreed for the ceasefire.

Recently UN Security Council issued a statement calling for immediate ceasefire between the countries.

Kasit said Cambodia should also agree to accept the observers to embed with their troops.

Responding to reports that both countries have signed a temporary ceasefire during a meeting between Thai and Cambodian generals in a restaurant in Along Veng of Cambodia on Saturday, Kasit said that both sides did not sign any ceasefire.

What they did was just talking not negotiating and they did not sign anything, he said.

Meanwhile an informed source said representing the Cambodian side in the Saturday meeting was not Maj Gen Hun Manet, the eldest son, of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen but Deputy Supreme Commander Jia Dara.

StuPAD wants revocation of truce deal with Cambodia

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 06:09 AM PST

NPP wants revocation of truce deal

20/02/2011
Bangkok Post

The ceasefire agreement made by Thai and Cambodian armies must be rapidly revoked as it could lead to a permanent loss of Thailand's territory, secretary-general of the New Politics Party (NPP) Suriyasai Katasila said on Sunday.

Mr Suriyasai called on army-chief-of staff Gen Daopong Rattanasuwan, who made the agreement on behalf of the royal Thai armed forces, to provide details of the agreement to the general public.

He also called on the government to review the truce deal and rapidly revoke it for the benefit of the nation.

[Stu]PAD: Ceasefire agreement 'dangerous' [... but WAR is PEACEFUL???]

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 06:04 AM PST

20/02/2011
Bangkok Post

The border truce agreement made by the Thai and Cambodian generals on Saturday is dangerous as it will make Thailand lose its territory, spokesman of the yellow-shirt people group Panthep Puapongpan claimed on Sunday.

At a press conferen held at Makkhawan Rangsan rally site, Mr Panthep said the eight conditions under the ceasefire deal, including no more troops are to be deployed in the conflict zones and no building or structure of any kind may be constructed inside the disputed 4.6 square kilometer border zone, would lead to a permanent lose of Thai soil.

He claimed that the truce agreement has put Thailand in an underdog situation.


Core leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang said the eight conditions would only allow Cambodia to 100 per cent occupy the disputed border area.

Other points of the ceasefire deal, took effect from Saturday, are; the existing troops stationed in the conflict zones must not move; no heavy armaments and artillery in the conflict areas may be moved; neither side may attack the other using heavy weaponry; no more military bunkers are to be built, no more road construction is allowed; and the senior military officers of both countries are to communicate via a dedicated mobile phones hotline in discussing border issue.

Abishit threatens ASEAN not to interfere in border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand?

Posted: 20 Feb 2011 05:59 AM PST

Thai PM: ASEAN not to Interfere with Thai-Cambodian Dispute

2011-02-20
Xinhua

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday said ASEAN will not interfere with any substance of negotiation between Thailand and Cambodia on their border dispute.

"I would like to stress that the position of ASEAN, as we have been following, is it will not interfere with any substance that we will talk to Cambodia," Abhisit said in his weekly national televised address.

The premier said the United Nations Security Council, which met on the Thai-Cambodian border dispute last Monday, was of the view that the two countries should talk to each other with ASEAN, or the Association of South East Asian Nations, acting as the facilitator or coordinator.


Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, as the current ASEAN chair, has called a meeting of the regional grouping's foreign ministers on Feb. 22 in Jakarta to discuss the issue.

Abhisit has repeatedly said that the border dispute was a bilateral issue and should be solved through the existing mechanism between the two nations.

The premier also said UNESCO now seemed to share Thailand's view that the organization should not proceed with any decision on the administering plan of a disputed 4.6-square-kilometer area around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple as Thailand and Cambodia both claim sovereignty over the area.

He said he talked to UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova over the phone last week to explain Thailand's position on the issue.

Abhsit said Ms. Bokova seemed to understand that any implementation of the administering plan, while there was still a border dispute, "could not proceed."

UNESCO's World Heritage committee is scheduled to discuss the administering plan, as proposed by Cambodia, in June this year.

Abhisit said instead of holding any discussion on the plan, UNESCO, or the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, should let Thailand and Cambodia negotiate bilaterally on their border demarcation first, and suspend any proceeding in regarding to the Preah Vihear temple.

Phnom Penh unilaterally has the temple enlisted as a World Heritage site on July 7, 2008.

The Democracy Genie is out of the bottle in the Middle East ... and soon in Cambodia?

Posted: 19 Feb 2011 11:27 PM PST

Abhisit Vejjajiva continues to slide into meltdown mode ... Hun Xen sent 1,600 of his bodyguards to the disputed area

Posted: 19 Feb 2011 11:06 PM PST

Bangkok set to slide again

BEHIND THE HEADLINES WITH BUNN NAGARA

Sunday February 20, 2011
The Star Online (Malaysia)
Several countries in Asean have also signalled a willingness to help in negotiations, while Abhisit and Hun Sen seem intent on outdoing one another in stubbornness. It takes two to tango as well.
Mounting problems confront an embattled Thai government, as Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva continues to slide into meltdown mode.

IF there ever was a sitting government steadily painting itself into a corner, Thailand's Democrat-led coalition is it.

Time was when it was broadly welcomed into office in late 2008, at least by Thais other than former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's followers after colourful years of sleaze and controversy. Free from the taint of corruption and unlawful violence, the new government had an opportunity to avoid several wrongs, if not also set things right.

The government itself emerged from neither an election nor a vote in the National Assembly, which Abhisit Vejjajiva had lost to Thaksin's relative. The winning coalition led by Thaksin's associates was then banned for election fraud, paving the way for an election by parliamentarians, a reworked coalition led by the Democrat party, and Abhisit's premiership.


Thaksin's supporters, broadly grouped as the Red Shirts, have since been trying to unseat Abhisit with appeals to his lack of electoral legitimacy. But a public grown weary of billionaire tycoon Thaksin's self-centred ways gave Abhisit the benefit of the doubt, if not outright support.

Thaksin had upset royalists, broadly identified as Yellow Shirts, with his slapdash and arrogant style. The Yellows had staged massive demonstrations, including taking over both of Bangkok's international airports.

Much of the early support for Abhisit came from popular faith in his plans to remake Thailand in a clean and accountable manner that respected human rights. If anything, his promises outnumbered his plans.

But even that would be short-lived. Allegations of corruption grew, involving certain procurement officials, although nothing on the scale of Thaksin's exploits.

Abhisit's promise to prosecute 21 protest leaders who had occupied the airports was not realised years into his premiership. One protest leader even became a Cabinet minister.

Thaksin's base of support originated in the northern provinces while Abhisit's came from a largely anti-Thaksin Bangkok and Democrat party strongholds in the south. But Abhisit and his party did hardly anything to consolidate support in those regions, much less extend that support elsewhere in the country.

Then as the Reds and Yellows took over the streets, the latter's preference for Abhisit and the Democrats was a given. But that was also taken for granted, and it has now slipped.

Today the Yellows and Reds, despite their differences over Thaksin, share the aim of removing Abhisit from power. Once more, Abhisit has lost a key constituency determining his political future.

Apart from opposing Thaksin, the Yellow Shirts portray themselves as diehard royalists and therefore nationalists and patriots. They became critical of the Abhisit government after seeing it as soft on Cambodia in a bilateral dispute over contested territory.

A strip of land around the Preah Vihear Hindu temple near the common border is jointly claimed by both countries. The dispute has alternately raged and cooled over several years, but Bangkok has lately seen it deteriorate.

At one point, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had allied himself with an ousted Thaksin, to Thailand's consternation. Then Hun Sen suddenly turned around and bilateral relations improved.

Again, Abhisit's government failed to capitalise on the moment. With the latest skirmish leading up to and including the deadliest shoot-out in years, an already slippery situation has slid from bad to worse.

Hun Sen has reportedly called the incident earlier this month a "war". But it takes two to tangle, with both sides claiming that the other started shooting first.

Seven Thais had ventured into the disputed territory and were promptly arrested and jailed by the Cambodians. Five have been released, with the remaining two sentenced to a total of 14 years between them. They then sought a pardon from the Cambodian king through their lawyer, but their Thai Patriots Network NGO rejected that option. Now Hun Sen has said they would not be eligible for a pardon before serving at least two-thirds of their sentence.

Cambodia wants the UN to settle matters, but Thailand wants bilateral negotiations instead. Besides the dispute over territory, there is also disagreement over how the dispute should be solved.

Sceptical Thais note that when people have already died as a result, it is improbable – or beyond the capacity of Abhisit's government at least – to negotiate satisfactorily without an international mediator. Meanwhile, Abhisit has won no international plaudits for reportedly offending Hun Sen and accusing France, India and Russia of bias.

Several countries in Asean have also signalled a willingness to help in negotiations, while Abhisit and Hun Sen seem intent on outdoing one another in stubbornness. It takes two to tango as well.

Military officials from both sides held a secret meeting yesterday morning, but little has come of that. Hun Sen has instead massed 1,600 of his most loyal troops at a vantage point near the disputed area.

In Bangkok, deadly Red Shirt protests reached their height last year at the busy Rajprasong intersection, striking at the heart of Thailand's business district. Yesterday, the Reds gathered again at Rajprasong, forcing the closure of roads to traffic, albeit at a lesser strength than before.

The Reds have now found a new angle in attacking Abhisit's legitimacy – that the British-born premier has British citizenship, and is therefore ineligible to be prime minister. They claim to have "solid evidence" of that.

With Thaksin in self-exile abroad and his associates in Thailand sidelined, it is Abhisit and his government that occupy centre stage. This stage has now become a common target of both Reds and Yellows.

The moment they realise their common goal of removing Abhisit can be achieved if they joined forces, they would do so in what could be an unstoppable wave – regardless of whether rumours of a coup prove true.

[Thai] PM: UNESCO special envoy to visit Bangkok, Phnom Penh next week

Posted: 19 Feb 2011 10:58 PM PST

BANGKOK, Feb 19 (MCOT online news) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Saturday said the UNESCO chief agreed with Thailand that the management plan of the ancient Preah Vihear temple should not proceed until the border demarcation is concluded and that its special envoy will visit Bangkok and Phnom Penh next week to discuss the renewed border conflict.

The Thai premier made remarks as he talked with Irina Bokova, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) by telephone over the tension between Thailand and Cambodia as a result of the listing of the Hindu temple as a World Heritage Site.

Mr Abhisit said the world body chief understands the situation and agreed with Thailand that the Preah Vihear management plan should not be conducted now as long as there is no conclusion to the Thai-Cambodian border conflict and clear demarcation which should be reached under the framework of the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC).


The UNESCO director-general will also send Mr Koichiro Matsuura, former UNESCO Director-General, in the capacity of the agency's special envoy on Thai-Cambodian dispute, to Bangkok and Phnom Penh next week to hear clarification from both sides, but will not visit the disputed border area, according to Mr Abhisit, who said he will talk with the Japanese envoy by himself.

The Thai premier stated he believes UNESCO does not want the conflict to be prolonged until the next meeting of the World Heritage Committee which is scheduled to be held in Bahrain in June. He said Thailand also urged the world agency to listen to the kingdom as it had no hidden agenda but wasconcerned about the well-being and the peace of people living along the border.

Following rumours that China and Vietnam had sent their troops to help Cambodia, Mr Abhisit dismissed the notion, saying no country wanted to intervene to worsen the situation.

As the Cambodina Prime Minister Hun Sen proposed Thailand to sign a permanent ceasefire agreement under the witness of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN chair, the Thai leader reasserted there is no clear detail on the matter and he still does not know how such a permanent ceasefire would be initiated.

The Thai prime minister reiterated that Thailand has never started shooting and that it has the right to protect the kingdom's sovereignty when being invaded.

Hun Manet sent to sign the temporary ceasefire deal with Thailand

Posted: 19 Feb 2011 10:48 PM PST

Temporary ceasefire deal agreed on

February 20, 2011
By Panya Thiewsangwan, Jeerapong Prasertpolkrang
The Nation on Sunday

Hun Manet, eldest son of Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, and Thai Army Chief of Staff General Dapong Rattanasuwan yesterday signed in a temporary cease-fire agreement.

Second Army Area commander Lt-General Thawatchai Samutsakorn and 10 other Thai officers crossed Chong Sa-ngam, Si Sa Ket border to meet with Hun Manet, a lieutenant general in the Cambodian army, in a restaurant in Allongweng, a source, who joined the trip but asked not to be named, said.

He said both sides agreed to follow the previous agreement and signed an eight-point agreement which includes no mobilisation of troops, no increase in troops or heavy weapons, no confrontation and no construction in disputed areas.

The source said the two-hour talk was part of regular meetings.

However, the temporary deal is not binding as far as the upcoming Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) ministerial meeting on Tuesday is concerned.


"In case of conflicts, both countries' military would first communicate through radio. However, they must talk only about how to fix the problems," the source said.

Meanwhile, a representative of the United Nation's cultural body will come to Thailand and Cambodia next week to get details about Preah Vihear Temple and the recent border dispute.

UNESCO official coming

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday he got a phone call from Irina Bokova, director-general of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, who said the agency would send an official to Bangkok and Phnom Penh to hear information, without getting involved in sensitive issues.

The Unesco chief said she would send a cover letter on the scope of the representative's mission. After it receives Thai confirmation, the representative, former Unesco director Koichiro Matsuura, planned to visit next week.

"I talked to the (Unesco) director-general and found that she agrees with Thailand's proposal that the management plan for the areas surrounding Preah Vihear Temple should not to be touched on unless the land disputes have been settled," Abhisit said.

"The process must be according to the Memorandum of Understanding and the agreement of the Joint-Border Committee.

"She was also concerned when she saw that [Cambodian] soldiers stayed in the temple, which is against the agreement."

The PM said Thailand should give information to Unesco and should not quit the World Heritage Committee. If it did, the agency would be able to only hear information from Cambodia.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and National Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti had done a good job so far clarifying the Kingdom's position to the UN agency, Abhisit said.

He emphasised that no trips to the disputed area would be made so long as the issue was still sensitive.

Abhisit dismissed reports that China and Vietnam supported Cambodia in the dispute. He said no country would want more tension.

The Bangkok Post has obtained new evidence that Thailand did use cluster munitions

Posted: 19 Feb 2011 10:39 PM PST

EXPLOSIVE: Kim Samnang, who lost his forearm; and what is believed to be a cluster bomb, found near Svay Chrum village.
Sign Convention on Cluster Munitions

20/02/2011
Bangkok Post
EDITORIAL

One of the most disturbing aspects of the renewed hostilities along the Thai-Cambodian border is the reported use of cluster munitions or bombs. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen first made the allegation, as printed in the Feb 11 of The Phnom Penh Post: ''They launched a cluster bomb. Is that a clash?''

Thailand denied the allegation, and army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said that in fact Cambodia had used the controversial weapon. Colonel Sanserd said a Cambodian cluster bomb attack was responsible for the death of Thanakorn Poonperm, deputy commander of the Paramilitary Rangers Company. Cambodia denied this charge.

Cambodian army deputy chief General Hing Bunheang and the director-general of the government-run Cambodian Mine Action Centre, Heng Ratana, backed up Hun Sen's allegation, but several sources, including Carl Thayer, a professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy, cast doubt on the claim.

However, the Bangkok Post has obtained, and published in today's edition, new evidence that possibly supports the Cambodian assertion that Thailand did use cluster munitions.

Thus far the Thai army has not produced evidence that cluster bombs were used against its soldiers.


The use of cluster bombs by one or both sides is a very serious issue, and it should be further investigated.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions currently has 108 signatories, has been ratified by 48 states and became international law for the states parties when it entered into force on Aug 1 of last year. However, neither Thailand nor Cambodia has signed the convention.

This failure to sign is particularly perplexing in the case of Cambodia, which was heavily bombarded with cluster munitions by US warplanes during the Vietnam War.

According to the website Landmine & Cluster Munition Monitor (http://www.the-monitor.org/index.php/cp/display/region_profiles/theme/572), ''The Kingdom of Cambodia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, despite the fact that it was an early, prominent, and influential supporter of the Oslo Process that produced the convention.''

The website goes on to explain that there is a direct link between the failure to sign the convention and tensions with Thailand over Cambodia's application to Unesco for world heritage site status for Preah Vihear. The report quotes a Cambodian government spokesman as saying: ''Due to the fact that Thailand does not yet sign the treaty ... we can delay a bit our adhesion to the treaty.''

Both sides deny using cluster bombs, but neither side denies having them, and it is likely that the border tensions have also influenced the Thai government's decision not to sign the convention, which requires that parties ''destroy their stockpile of cluster munitions within eight years of entry into force'' of the convention.

Destruction is absolutely, without a doubt, what should happen to the many large stockpiles of these cruel weapons scattered around the world.

All weapons of war sow horror, but these are perhaps on another level because they are so dangerous to civilian populations.

After they are dropped from the air or fired from mortars, they are designed to break open in mid-air, releasing bomblets over a wide area. In places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, where cluster bombs have been widely used, the menace is compounded because the small objects are sometimes mistaken for toys by children.

They often remain deadly and undetected for many years. In that sense they are similar to land mines, which are still killers in Cambodia and to some extent in Thailand, where some border provinces were mined during the 1980s to keep the Khmer Rouge out. The Cambodian Mine Action Centre states there may be as many as six million mines still laid in Cambodian fields and small villages.

Thailand and Cambodia have officially prohibited land mines as signatories to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, and both countries should follow up on that action by signing and ratifying the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The fact that Thailand and Cambodia are adamant in their insistence that their respective militaries have never used the repugnant weapons against the other is proof that they view such behaviour to be unacceptable, even in a battle zone.

Why not make this position official?

A small Cambodian bronze exhibit at Getty is rich with meaning

Posted: 19 Feb 2011 10:11 PM PST

Unknown Ganesha, 13th century Cambodian. (The J. Paul Getty Trust)
The 'Gods of Angkor' show of Hindu and Buddhist statuary and ritual objects is of great cultural importance.

February 20, 2011
By Suzanne Muchnic, Special to the Los Angeles Times
KI-Media Note: In you live in the Los Angeles basin area, you should try to visit this exhibit because admission to the Getty Museum and to all the exhibitions is FREE—no tickets or reservations are required for general admission. Therefore, we encourage all of you to take your children and loved ones to visit this exhibit of Khmer heritage.

For further information about the Getty Museum, click here

Thank you!
In numerical terms, "Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia" — opening Feb. 22 at the J. Paul Getty Museum — is a small exhibition. It consists of a mere 26 sculptural objects, about 4 inches to 40 inches tall, displayed in a single gallery.

But the cultural significance of the show is beyond measure. The selection of Hindu and Buddhist statuary and ritual objects includes some of the finest examples of historical Cambodian bronze work at the nation's primary art museum in Phnom Penh.

Elegantly refined and intricately detailed, the sculptures include a 10th-century likeness of Maitreya, a Buddha-to-be with eight arms, a lustrous patina and eyes of silver foil and black stone. A triad of figures made in the late 12th or early 13th century features a Buddha seated on a serpent coiled into a chair, with human embodiments of compassion and wisdom at his sides.


The animal kingdom also has a strong presence. A statue of Ganesha depicts the elephant-headed son of the Hindu god Shiva decked out in elaborately ornamented attire but posed in a meditative state with his arms raised. A sleek sculpture of Shiva's bull, Nandin, portrays the beast at rest, legs folded alongside his powerful body.

"The sensuousness and beauty of this material, the great range of color and texture, was really a surprise to me," says Louise Allison Cort, a ceramics specialist at the Arthur M. Sackler and Freer Galleries in Washington, D.C., who has done extensive research in Cambodia. She co-organized the Sackler's inaugural version of the show with Paul Jett, the galleries' head of conservation. The Los Angeles presentation, pared from 36 to 26 objects, was coordinated by Getty curator Jeffrey Weaver, in collaboration with the museum's former director, Michael Brand.

"I think the high point is the 10th, 11th and 12th century pieces," Cort says. "There is such a wonderful sense of skin and bones and muscle represented, a kind of warmth in the material that I had never felt before I started working with these bronzes."

Meant to be viewed in the round, the sculptures are often as intriguing from the back as in the front. As Weaver points out, a garment wrapped around the hips of a late 11th century or early 12th century statue of Vishnu, the Hindu god of stability, is tied in the rear in a fashionable butterfly shape.

The museum that is home to the artworks is a miracle of perseverance and regeneration. Designed as a central repository for the storage, protection and display of Cambodia's artistic heritage, it opened under French patronage in 1920. The Cambodian government took charge of the museum in 1966. A few years later, when civil war broke out, the Phnom Penh institution also became a refuge for treasures from the provinces. Then came the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror, in 1975. The once-proud National Museum of Cambodia was abandoned and its staff dismissed.

It could have been worse. As danger approached, the collection was packed into underground storage and the building shut tight with its doors sandbagged. Against all odds, most of the artworks survived intact and the museum reopened a few months after the liberation of Phnom Penh in 1979. But reassembling and conserving the artworks was a daunting challenge. The building needed help too. Among other problems, a colony of bats that had settled into the roof had to be removed to protect the art, staff and visitors from falling guano.

But a new day has long since dawned at the museum — a picturesque architectural hybrid with traditional Khmer elements applied to a French colonial structure. Examples of the 17,600-piece collection of archeological and ethnographic objects are displayed in galleries surrounding a central courtyard.

"We are planning a celebration of the museum's 100th birthday," says its director, Oun Phalline, during a recent visit to the Getty. A 32-year veteran of the Cambodian museum, she began her career there as a guide and moved into the top position last year. She now presides over an institution with a staff that has grown from 20 to 120 — a cultural jewel of Southeast Asia that attracts 90,000 visitors a year.

Cambodia's major tourist center is Siem Reap, a town about 200 miles north of Phnom Penh, which serves as a base for visiting Angkor Wat and many other ancient temples and archeological sites. But thousands of tourists also seek out the museum. "After people see the temples, they want to see the art," Phalline says.

The two-venue American exhibition is the result of a collaboration that began in 2003 with a request for the Smithsonian Institution, which governs the Sackler and Freer Galleries, to help conserve bronze works at the Cambodian museum. The Getty Foundation joined the effort in 2005, providing funds to study the 8,000-piece holding of bronzes, treat the objects at greatest risk and develop a long-term conservation plan, including a training program for Cambodian conservators. With additional aid from organizations around the world, the museum in Phnom Penh now has conservation facilities for stone, metal and ceramics.

Most of the objects surveyed by the Getty-sponsored study have been in the collection for decades, accompanied by precise documentation. A sculpture of a crowned Buddha in the current exhibition was excavated in 1931 on the grounds of Angkor Wat. A kneeling female figure thought to have held a mirror on her head was found in 1921 near a Buddhist temple in the ancient city of Angkor Thom.

But one of the first projects in the new metal conservation lab focused on an astonishing discovery made in 2006. As Cort tells the story, a woman who lives in a village northeast of Phnom Penh was digging a hole in her yard to plant a tree when she unearthed seven little bronze figures made in the 7th century. She notified authorities and her improbable find joined the collection of the National Museum.

"All the pieces are related to Buddhist tradition," Cort says, "but they represent different styles and probably different sources. Two are in a style associated with the capital city in Cambodia in the 7th century. Three others are more closely related to an area in adjacent Thailand. The last two are Chinese. They raise all kinds of questions about how the Chinese pieces got into Cambodia, the grouping of different styles of Buddhist deities, who owned these pieces and why they were there. The exhibition was already underway when they were found, but they became one of its focal points."

In another case, a mystery was solved by in-house detective work.

"The museum staff is in the throes of constructing an electronic database and photographing everything, so they have been going through the collection in great detail," Cort says. "A statue of the crowned Buddha, which had been broken into multiple pieces and repaired, at some point lost both its hands. In the course of reorganizing the museum, the statue ended up in one place and the hands someplace else. A young researcher who was carefully studying everything in storage noticed the hands and made the connection. Just in time for the exhibition, the conservation staff put the hands back on the figure. We now know the gesture the Buddha is making and the meaning of it: Do not fear."

'Cambodia, Thai border row harms ASEAN security community efforts'

Posted: 19 Feb 2011 09:34 PM PST

February 20, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - Cambodian and Thai border row near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple could harm the efforts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) toward a community by 2015, said analysts here on Saturday.

"ASEAN will be difficult to achieve its security community by 2015 if it cannot mediate to resolve the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand," Chheang Vannarith, executive director of Cambodian Institute of Cooperation and Peace, said in an interview with Xinhua on Saturday.

ASEAN will have communities including economic, security, and socio-cultural ones.

"By 2015, I believe that it can achieve only the economic community and social and cultural community," he said.


However, he said that it depends on ASEAN itself if it will create any new mechanism to resolve dispute or not.

The ASEAN's foreign ministers will hold a meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia on Feb. 22 to discuss the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

"Now we wait and see the result of the upcoming meeting," he said."It can be a turning-point for ASEAN if it decides to establish an effective mechanism of dispute resolution for its members."

The dispute between Cambodia and Thailand is the first time that ASEAN meets, so it can be an experiment for ASEAN.

"If ASEAN has no any resolution or measure on this dispute, the ASEAN's security community will be worthless," he said.

Cambodia is expected to ask Thailand to sign a permanent ceasefire under the witness of ASEAN chair or representative during the ASEAN foreign ministers'meeting, and it will also ask ASEAN observers to come to the disputed areas to ensure the permanent cease-fire.

Sok Touch, deputy director general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia's International Relations Institute, said that Cambodia' s suggestions will be failed.

"It will not be successful, I guest. Currently, Thailand increases its military forces in order to put pressure on Cambodia to return to bilateral negotiation table," he said.

"Thai government uses the issue of Preah Vihear temple to treat its internal conflict," he said. "Also, Thai's war against Cambodia is for budget-when there is war, Thai government led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, will be able to withdraw budget from its national coffer easily and legally."

"Another reason, Abhisit uses the war against Cambodia as his excuse to postpone the election in Thailand," he added.

Cambodia and Thailand have had border conflict just a week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted as World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.

The conflict is due to Thai claim of the ownership of 4.6 sq km of scrub next to the temple, 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.

The latest clashes on Feb. 4-7, unleashed a barrage of artillery shells on both sides of the border, had killed and wounded some soldiers and citizens of both sides, and also caused tens of thousands of the two countries'villagers nearby the disputed areas fleeing for safe shelters.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday urged Cambodia and Thailand to display maximum restraint and to establish a permanent ceasefire. It also expressed support for the active efforts of ASEAN in the matter and encouraged the parties to continue to cooperate with the organization.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

 

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