Phnom Penh will decline any Thai request for former PM amid deepening row between south-east Asian neighbours
Ben Doherty in Bangkok
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 November 2009
(Posted by CAAI News Media)
Thaksin Shinawatra has been appointed as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images
Cambodia will refuse any request from Thailand to extradite fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, after the billionaire landed his private jet at Phnom Penh airport today.
Thaksin will be in Cambodia for at least two more days, and Thai government officials have told the Guardian that as soon as his address in the country is known, they will file for his extradition. They hope to lodge the request today.
But while the two neighbours have an extradition treaty, Cambodia says it will ignore any request, saying Thaksin – who was sentenced by a Thai court in absentia last October to two years in prison for a conflict of interest over a land deal – was a political victim.
"We will not extradite him. We already clarified this case because he is a political victim," a foreign affairs spokesman, Kuoy Kong, said.
Thaksin, ousted from power by a military coup in 2006, is in Cambodia as an "economics adviser" to the government, a job offered to him by the country's prime minister, Hun Sen. He will speak to 300 economics experts in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, on Thursday.
It is Thaksin's friendship with Hun Sen that is at the heart of a worsening dispute between Thailand and Cambodia.
In recent days, as a war of words between Bangkok and Phnom Penh over Thaksin has escalated, both governments have withdrawn their respective ambassadors and Thailand has torn up an agreement over maritime boundaries.
There is concern, too, that the long-running and violent dispute over the Preah Vihear temple on the border may flare up again. And while Bangkok has promised to keep the border open, tourism operators in Thailand are reporting that one in five trips to Cambodia have been cancelled by Thai holidaymakers.
A Thai government spokesman, Panitan Wattanayagorn, said the extradition request was imminent, and he expected it to be properly considered by Cambodia.
"As soon as we can confirm his whereabouts we will make the request, it is simply a technical requirement," Panitan said.
"It's up to the Cambodian court to decide whether to extradite him, but this will be the first time the court has had a chance to see evidence regarding Thaksin's conviction, and we would expect the court to look favourably upon our request."
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