PHNOM PENH, Nov. 11, 2009 (Kyodo News International)
(Posted by CAAI News Media)
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that Cambodia has rejected Thailand's extradition request for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
''I would like to send a message that there is no extradition (for Thaksin),'' Hun Sen told Cambodian reporters.
He made the remarks after a nearly two-hour meeting with Thaksin at Hun Sen's residence in Tuol Krasaing, 13 kilometers south of Phnom Penh.
Thaksin arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday and is expected to stay at least until the weekend.
He thanked Hun Sen and pledged to help Cambodia in poverty reduction and attracting foreign investment.
A diplomatic note to Thailand's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said, ''The Royal Government of Cambodia considers the prosecution and the legal process against H.E. Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra as a politically motivated proceeding.''
''The condemnation of H.E. Thaksin Shinawatra is logically the consequence of the military coup d'etat in September 2006, which resulted in his removal from the post of Prime Minister while he was overwhelmingly and democratically elected by the Thai people.''
''Therefore...Cambodia is not in a position to make the provisional arrest for the purpose of extradition of H.E. Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra as requested,'' it said.
Hun Sen said he has been friends with Thaksin for nearly 20 years, beginning when Thaksin was a businessman, and that he considers him an ''eternal friend.''
The former Thai premier is to give an economic lecture, likely to meet again with Hun Sen and play golf with him in Siem Reap Province before leaving Cambodia.
In Bangkok, news of Cambodia's rejection of the extradition request was met with caution.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Vimon Kidchob said Wednesday the ministry received the letter from Cambodia refusing extradition and will now look for other ways to deal with the situation.
''We have to take a look and study the letter...we don't want people of the two countries to suffer from our stances,'' she said.
Thailand asked Cambodia to send Thaksin to Thailand after he arrived in Phnom Penh.
Thaksin after being overthrown as Thai prime minister in 2006 has since been convicted of conflict of interest while in power and sentenced in absentia to two years in prison.
But because Cambodia has ruled Thaksin's conviction was politically motivated, it says the extradition treaty between the two countries does not apply.
(Source: iStockAnalyst )
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