Monks, soldiers square off over buried treasure

via Khmer NZ

Mon, 09 Aug 2010

By : dpa

Phnom Penh - A reputed hoard of Khmer Rouge-era gold saw monks and villagers engaged in a weekend standoff with soldiers at a temple in western Cambodia, national media reported Monday.

The provincial governor of Pailin, Y Chhien, said the supposedowner of the gold, whom he did not name, had tipped off the authorities to its existence.

"Someone reported that a ton of gold belonging to the Khmer Rouge regime was buried at the pagoda, but we are not sure yet because we can't dig it up because the monks rallied against our military police and police," he said.

Y Chhien told the Cambodia Daily newspaper he was mystified at the resistance shown by the community at Korng Kang pagoda.

"It's not a secret operation because if we find anything, all the gold will become state property," he said.

The temple's deputy chief monk, Nhim Sothon, confirmed that several troops had descended on the temple Saturday and Sunday in pursuit of the gold.

"But our monks protected it, and did not allow it," he said.

Nhim Sothon said the pagoda last year refused to allow a former Khmer Rouge cadre to dig at the pagoda after he sought permission to unearth 50 kilograms of gold he hid there during the 1975-79 regime.

The Khmer Rouge banned organized religion during its disastrous rule of the country, and many temples became prisons and execution centres.