Cambodia promises to probe arms training claim

Published: 29/10/2010

via CAAI

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has agreed to Thailand's request to investigate reports that that anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders wanted on arrest warrants for terrorism are hiding on Cambodian soil, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said on Friday.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had a 15 minute talk with Hun Sen on the sidelines of the summit of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Hanoi on Thursday evening, Mr Panitan said in a telephone interview with a television station in the morning.

The two leaders also discussed the progress of several joint projects and the management of border areas, he said.

Their talk went well and Hun Sen told Mr Abhisit that he will investigate the fugitive issue, according to Mr Panitan.

Mr Panitan said the Cambodian prime minister expressed his sympathy over the widespread floods in Thailand which have claimed 94 lives so far.

Earlier this month, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) cited the confessions of 11 men arrested in Chiang Mai on charges of being a national security threat, claiming that they and 28 other invidivuals underwent weapons training in the Siem Reap area.

According to the DSI, the detainees, who were arrested on Oct 2 at Doi Ku Fah resort in Mae On subdistrict, said they were recruited by UDD leaders to undertake arms training in Cambodia.

It is also widely reported that fugitive red-shirt leaders including Arisman Pongraungrong fled to Cambodia.

DSI quoted the detained suspects as saying some of the trained men were selected by Mr Arisman to be his bodyguards while he remains in Cambodia.

The Cambodian government strongly denied the allegation of red-shirt arms training, saying the matter was purely Thai internal politics.

Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman for the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), said on Thursday that Mr Arisman, who escaped prosecution on terrorism charges, entered Cambodia with a fake exit stamp from Thai immigration.

Police have already asked the foreign ministry to revoke his passport.