Party leader welcomes Cambodia’s CPP delegation

25/10/2008

VietNamNet Bridge – Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh received a delegation from the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in Hanoi on Oct. 24, led by its Central Committee’s permanent head Sai Chhum.

The delegation is making an official visit to Vietnam from Oct. 23-27 as guests of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s (CPV) Central Committee.

Sai Chhum conveyed best regards from the leaders of the CPP, the National Assembly and the Royal Government of Cambodia to General Secretary Manh and other Vietnamese Party and State leaders.

He heaped praise on the outstanding achievements of the Vietnamese people in their renewal process.

He said that the CPP and the Cambodian people will forever bear in their minds the valuable assistance of the Vietnamese Party, State and people to the Cambodian people in their struggle for national liberation and escape from genocide in the past, as well as their current commitment to the causes of peace, national reconciliation and national development.

The CPP and Cambodian people pledged to do their utmost to continually develop the fine traditions of neighbourliness, friendship and sustainable comprehensive cooperation between the two parties and the people of Cambodia and Vietnam, he said.

General Secretary Manh welcomed the CPP officials, saying that he considers their visit a manifestation of the traditional friendship, unity and cooperation between the parties and people of both nations.

He appreciated the outcomes of discussions between the two parties and their cooperation agreements for 2009-2010, and congratulated the CPP and the Cambodian people on their important achievements in a variety of areas over the recent past, particularly the CPP’s success in the National Assembly elections. He considered these achievements as an important factor in maintaining peace, stability and development not only in Cambodia, but regionally and globally.

The Party General Secretary asked the delegation to convey his best wishes to the CPP and Cambodian State leaders. He expressed his pleasure at the positive development of the two countries’ neighbourly relationship.

He thanked the CPP and the Cambodian people for their assistance to Vietnam and reiterated Vietnam ’s ongoing policy attaching great importance to preserving and promoting the traditional unity, friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia.

Earlier that day, a CPV delegation, led by Truong Tan Sang, politburo member and permanent member of the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, held talks with the CPP delegation.

The two sides exchanged views on orientation and the adoption of measures to further promote cooperation between the two parties and countries, as well as a number of international and regional matters of common concern.

They were unanimous in the signing of an agreement regarding the two parties’ cooperation during 2009-2010.

During the course of their visit, the CPP delegation plans to visit a number of economic establishments, as well as a range of cultural and historical sites in Hanoi, the northern province of Phu Tho and Ho Chi Minh City.

(Source: VNA)

Thai-Cambodia dispute: Asean offers help

Yasmin Lee Arpon/ANN

BEIJING, Oct. 24: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is ready to step in on the border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, even as the leaders of the two warring countries said today that they have put the recent clashes behind them.

"Asean is ready to help but the concerned parties said they will exhaust all resources first," Asean secretary general Mr Surin Pitsuwan said in an exclusive briefing today in Beijing. Thai PM Mr Somchai Wongsawat and Cambodian PM Mr Hun Sen met at the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Europe meeting attended by 45 leaders from the two continents and said they were confident that both sides will resolve the dispute soon. The two leaders said the border clashes this month that killed three Cambodian soldiers and wounded a Thai soldier are behind them. "We are not just neighbours, we are very good friends indeed," Thai foreign minister Mr Sompong Amornvivat said after the meeting. "His Excellency Hun Sen said the incident that already happened is not the kind that both countries want. It happened instantly. That was uncontrollable at the time. But when things come to this point, the two sides have to advise our troops not to have confrontation any longer," Mr Sompong said.

The two sides vowed to resort to "all existing mechanisms to solve the problem on the border". At the root of the dispute is the Preah Vihear temple, which the International Court of Justice awarded to Cambodia in 1962, which Thailand has resented

RP booters beat Cambodia in Suzuki Cup

GMA News TV

10/25/2008

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines beat Cambodia, 3-2, Thursday night in the qualifiers of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2008 but will have to wait if they advance to the tournament proper on December.

Chad Gould knocked in the go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute in front of a jampacked crowd at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

“It was a very difficult game for us where we struggled in the second half. The last 25 minutes was extremely difficult," said RP coach Juan Cutillas in the AFF website. “I believe that we did the right tactic on the day and that we deserve to win even though Cambodia dominated for much of the game."

Sam El Nasa broke the ice in the 14th minute for Cambodia but Ali Borromeo tied it up in the 19th minute. The Filipinos took the lead on a goal by Chris Greatwich in the 36th minute only to allow a tying goal before halftime by El Nasa, his second in the game, in the 44th minute.

But Gould, a substitute for Ian Araneta, delivered the game-winning goal as the Filipinos stave off a fighting Cambodia side in the second half.

The Filipino booters finished the qualifiers with seven points after recording two wins, a draw and a loss. Despite the win, the Philippines is not yet assured of one of the two slots in the main draw slated on December.

Laos is currently in second with six points with two wins and a loss with a game to go while Brunei and Cambodia both had four points but Brunei is in third due to a superior goal difference. Timor Leste is in the rear with only a point owning a one draw, two loss slate.

The Filipinos hope that Cambodia and Brunei settle for a draw to qualify and enter the tournament proper on Saturday. A Laos win over Timor Leste and a win by both Cambodia and Brunei, however, will eliminate the Philippines from the tournament proper.

– GMANews.TV

Vietnam-Cambodia Border Landmark Planting Scheme Moves Ahead

PHNOM PENH, Oct 25(Bernama) -- The chairmen of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee for Land Border Demarcation and Landmark Planting, met in Phnom Penh between on Wednesday and Thursday, Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported.

The Vietnamese delegation to the meeting was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son, co-chairman of the Vietnam-Cambodia joint border committee; and the Cambodian delegation was headed by Senior Minister Var Kim Hong, co-chairman of the Vietnam-Cambodia border committee.

The two sides reviewed the implementation of border demarcation and landmark planting in 2008, and heaped praise on the efforts of the two countries' relevant ministries, agencies and localities in the work.

In an atmosphere of unity, friendship and mutual understanding, the two sides had a frank exchange of views and agreed upon measures to resolve any problems in order to fulfill the 2008 border demarcation and landmark planting plan.

They pledged to strictly implement the 1985 Agreement on Border Demarcation and the 2005 Supplementary Agreement, determining to complete border demarcation and landmark planting along the Vietnam-Cambodia border in 2012 as agreed between the two governments, contributing to creating a border of peace, friendship, cooperation and development for the benefit of both sides as well as for peace, stability and development in the region.

The two chairmen of the joint committee signed the common minutes on agreements the two sides reached at the meetings and approved the results of a series of meetings of the committee's technical sub-committee and experts' groups held earlier between Oct 15-22.

On Oct 23, Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers of the Royal Government of Cambodia, received Deputy FM Son and other members of the Vietnamese delegation.

-- BERNAMA

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C) speaks at the start of a breakfast with Asian country leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 24, 2008. Dozens of Asian and European leaders, representing half the global economy, have gathered in Beijing this week at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) starting Friday. The 27 EU member states and the European Commission will trade views with Japan, China, India and 13 other Asian countries on the global downturn, climate change and international security.REUTERS/POOL/David Gray (CHINA)

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen before their meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 24, 2008. Dozens of Asian and European leaders, representing half the global economy, have gathered in Beijing this week at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) starting Friday. The 27 EU member states and the European Commission will trade views with Japan, China, India and 13 other Asian countries on the global downturn, climate change and international security.REUTERS/POOL/David Gray (CHINA)

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer before their meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 24, 2008. Dozens of Asian and European leaders, representing half the global economy, have gathered in Beijing this week at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) starting Friday. The 27 EU member states and the European Commission will trade views with Japan, China, India and 13 other Asian countries on the global downturn, climate change and international security.REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA)

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso before a breakfast with Asian country leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 24, 2008. Dozens of Asian and European leaders, representing half the global economy, have gathered in Beijing this week at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) starting Friday. The 27 EU member states and the European Commission will trade views with Japan, China, India and 13 other Asian countries on the global downturn, climate change and international security.REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA)

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo before a breakfast with Asian country leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 24, 2008. Dozens of Asian and European leaders, representing half the global economy, have gathered in Beijing this week at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) starting Friday. The 27 EU member states and the European Commission will trade views with Japan, China, India and 13 other Asian countries on the global downturn, climate change and international security.REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA)

Thai, Cambodian armies agree to ease border tensions

M&C Asia-Pacific News
Oct 24, 2008

Bangkok - Army officers representing Thailand and Cambodia on Friday agreed to ease border tensions around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, the site of a clash that claimed three lives earlier this month, state news reports said.

The tentative agreement between the two militaries was reached at the Thai-Cambodian Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting held in the Cambodian northwestern province of Siem Reap, reported the Thai News Agency (TNA). Sponsored Links:

Led by Thailand's Second Army Region commander Lieutenant General Wiboonsak Neepal and his Cambodian counterpart Fourth Army commander Lieutenant General Chea Mon, the two sides agreed to ease tensions 'to create peace and stability for people of the two countries living along the border,' said the TNA.

The negotiations, however, did not cover reducing the number of troops or reducing or eliminating heavy weapons at the border.

On October 15 Thai and Cambodian troops briefly clashed in a disputed zone near the Preah Vihear temple, leaving two Cambodians dead and several Thais wounded, one of whom died of his injuries in hospital.

The shootout occurred about 3 kilometres away from Phreah Vihear, an 11th century Hindu temple that has been the cause of many border disputes between the two neighbouring countries for almost five decades. Sponsored Links:

A similar skirmish occurred at the same site on October 3 that left two Thai soldiers and one Cambodian wounded. Thailand issued an official protest to the Cambodian government over the alleged border incursion.

Thailand and Cambodia nearly came to blows over the Preah Vihear temple in July, shortly after UNESCO named the ancient Hindu temple a World Heritage Site despite Thai objections.

The temple, the object of disputed claims between Thailand and Cambodia since the 1950s, was granted to Cambodia by a ruling of the International Court of Justice in 1962.

But land adjacent to the temple compound, including its main entrance on the Thai side, has been claimed by both countries. Sponsored Links:

Both sides beefed up their forces in the area, situated about 400 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, after some ultra-nationalist Thais crossed into the disputed zone in a protest against the UNESCO ruling.

The border conflict was calmed in August when both sides agreed to settle the matter through bilateral talks held by a joint border committee.

The talks were hampered by repeated claims of incursions into Cambodian territory and by Thailand's chaotic domestic political situation.

Trade, tourism return to normal on Thai-Cambodian border

SA KAEO, Oct 24 (TNA) — Cross-border businesses between this eastern Thai border province and Cambodia gradually returned to normal after the Thai and Cambodian military clash at a disputed zone near the ancient Khmer Preah Vihear temple caused fear for their personal safety among both traders and shoppers, a Thai immigration official said here Friday.

Pol.Lt-Col. Jeerachart Romsaiyood, a Thai government immigration inspector at the Aranyaprathet border check point, said the bilateral border trade and tourism business between Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district and Cambodia's neighbouring Siem Riep province had returned to normal after the economic slowdown due to the firefight in the Northeastern province of Si Sa Ket.

As people of the two countries regained their confidence that the border situation would be settled soon, the atmosphere at Aranyaprathet's Rong Klua Market on Friday was quite vibrant.

Thousands of Cambodian traders resumed their businesses at Rong Klua Market while Thai tourist groups again travelled to Cambodia's UNESCO World Heritage Site, the national landmark temples of Angkor.

The trips to visit ancient Angkor Wat and its adjourning historical districts in November for Loy Krathong festival were fully booked, with more than one hundred groups currently on tourism agency books.

However, the Thai police chief inspector at Klong Leuk police station said security measures were still tight in the Klong Leuk area of Aranyaprathet district to ensure the safety as the market was fully opened and shoppers were crowding the market. (TNA)

Thailand and Cambodia vow peace

The dispute has stirred intense nationalist passions on both sides

BBC News
Friday, 24 October 2008

Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to resolve a border dispute peacefully "for the sake of our neighbourliness".

Bilateral talks on the issue were held on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe summit (Asem) in Beijing.

The demarcation of land around Preah Vihear temple on the countries' border has never been clearly settled.

Tensions have recently been rekindled, and last week erupted into open combat. Three Cambodian and one Thai soldier died in exchanges of fire.

'Uncontrollable'

Foreign ministers from the two countries spoke to reporters after the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart, Somchai Wongsawat, held talks earlier on Friday.

"We are not just neighbours, we are very good friends indeed," Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat said.

"His Excellency Hun Sen said the incident that already happened is not the kind that both countries want. It happened instantly. That was uncontrollable at the time."

Mr Sompong added that the two sides had been advised to avoid confrontation.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said: "What happened between us we have to solve peacefully, amicably, for the sake of our neighbourliness."

The military stand-off began in July when Cambodian troops detained three Thai protesters who had entered the site illegally.

The dispute centres on 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrub near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

An international court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but land surrounding it remains the subject of rival territorial claims.

'No quick resolution'

Meanwhile, senior military officials echoed the pledge to reduce tensions as they met in Siem Reap in northern Cambodia.

Both are sides are "committed to exercising their utmost restraint to avoid confrontation or armed clashes", said Cambodian regional army commander Maj Gen Chea Mon, according to AP news agency.

The two sides had agreed to joint border patrols to defuse tensions, but according to AFP news agency these have not materialised.

The BBC's Guy De Launey, in Beijing for the Asem summit, cautions that Thailand's domestic political situation could prove a distraction - and he says Cambodia has indicated it is not expecting a swift resolution.

The issue stirs intense nationalist passions on both sides, and an army recruitment drive in border areas has been over-subscribed, he adds.

Rome Film Festival: Cambodian director presents new film

AKI - Adnkronos International

Rome, 24 Oct. (AKI) - An award-winning Cambodian movie director who was to present his latest film at the Rome Film Festival on Friday, says his country needs to cultivate young artists. Rithy Panh told Adnkronos International (AKI) that his country had suffered a great deal because of conflict and war and young people did not have enough opportunities.

Panh (photo) spoke to AKI before the first screening outside Cambodia of his movie, entitled 'Un Barrage contre le Pacifique' or 'The Sea Wall', which was adapted from a 1950's novel by French writer, Marguerite Duras.

"This country (Cambodia) is full of young people, sons of the post-genocidal years," he told AKI. "My generation suffered heavy losses, and today for example, there are few artists, writers, directors.

"So it is necessary to take care of the generation of young people between 25 and 30 years of age, otherwise we will be forced to face new and more serious problems," said Panh.

Panh's film is set in 1931 in French Indochina which is now Cambodia. The story is about a French widow and her two children, who make a living from rice fields near the ocean.

Every year, their fields are flooded with sea water and their crops are destroyed. Their only hope seems to be the construction of a sea wall. The mother battles nature and local bureaucrats to raise her two children, who have to struggle with issues of racism and financial woes.

Panh has been recognised for his previous work. His successful documentary "S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine" won the Prix François Chalais prize at the Cannes film festival in 2003.

"The awards help in finding stability, security and to also obtain material more easily for shooting a film," said Panh.

Cambodia descended into poverty in 1975 when the oppressive communist Khmer Rouge seized power after the country had suffered from years of warfare.

The brutal regime immediately abolished the monetary system and put people to work in the fields. Over the next three years around 1.7 million people are estimated to have died from exhaustion, starvation, torture or execution.

A total of 150 films are being screened at the third annual Rome Film Festival which ends on 31 October.

Inside Story - Sarkozy's new financial world order - Oct 22

Part 1



Part 2



Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who currently holds the rotating post of EU president, is spearheading efforts to formulate a new financial world order to prevent a reoccurence of the current global financial crisis.

Sarkozy has outlined the EU's response to the stock market vacillations and bank collapses, calling for the implementation of a global system of regulation and a ban on banks with state money working through tax havens.

Next week, Sarkozy is due to visit Beijing and is expected to call on both China and India to join in efforts to work towards resolving and preventing more financial market turmoil.

Sarkozy and Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, said they would use an Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) to urge the two fast-growing export countries to join in taking responsibility for stabilising the world economy in the wake of the credit crisis.

At this point, China and India are reluctant as they cannot see many incentives to induce them to do so.

In this edition of Inside Story Erik Berglof, the chief economist and special adviser to the president at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Iain Begg, a professor at the European Institute, London School of Economics; and Mohan Guruswamy, the chairman and founder of the Centre for Policy Alternatives will join the presenter Sohail Rahman.

CAMBODIA Rural Vietnamese Catholics Persevere In Faith Amid Poverty

UCANEWS.com
Saturday, October 25, 2008

NEAK LOEUNG, Cambodia (UCAN) -- Catholics of Vietnamese descent in a rural parish in southern Cambodia are making every effort to preserve their faith even though they are poor, largely illiterate and face other challenges.

"We received our faith heritage from our ancestors, so we have to preserve it and pass it on to our children," says Pierre Ut The, a parishioner of Holy Family Church in Neak Loeung.

Speaking with UCA News on Oct. 19 in the church yard, the 66-year-old layman, who was born in Cambodia, recalled studying catechism with Vietnamese nuns as a child. Although he can read and write in Vietnamese, he said, his seven children and seven grandchildren are illiterate and have had little catechism.

The, one of about 1,000 Catholics of Vietnamese descent who live around the church in this village 60 kilometers southeast of Phnom Penh, makes his living by fishing. He said he prays for his family members every day, teaches them prayers and is trying to find Vietnamese prayer books for them.

Le Van Paul, the parish's only Vietnamese catechist, told UCA News the local Catholic families mostly originated in Vietnam's Dong Thap province, which borders Cambodia. They settled in Neak Loeung in the early 1980s, after Vietnamese troops forced Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge government from power.

Paul, 62, who was also born in Cambodia, had to flee to Vietnam in 1970, when the military government led by Lon Nol expelled all ethnic Vietnamese from the country. He returned to Cambodia with his family in 1982.

The father of nine recalled that at first local Catholics gathered at homes on Sundays to pray. Later, a Maryknoll missioner started providing pastoral care for them and they erected a thatched chapel. In 1991, they built the present church. Then in 2000, Colombian Father Omer Giraldo started to serve the parish.

According to Paul, a Khmer catechist now teaches catechism to the Vietnamese children, who understand a little Khmer, and also to 20 adult catechumens after Sunday Mass. Last July, 70 people made their First Communion.

However, many local people are not baptized because they have to move from place to place looking for work, he added. They work as carpenters and bricklayers, do fishing or run small businesses, earning the equivalent of about US$3-5 a day.

With such low earnings, it is hard for the villagers to contribute monetarily to the Church. Parish council head Pierre Ba Be said he asks for donations from benefactors in Vietnam. Through their contributions, he was able to cement the church's floor, and plant bonsai and flowers in the yard.

According to Be, 70, Mass is celebrated every Sunday morning at the church, and people who have to work at that time can attend prayers at the church on Sunday afternoon instead. The father of eight also leads daily prayers for children at the church.

Despite the people's struggle to make ends meet, Be is not worried. "If we live a good faith life," he said, "God will give us good health and enough food."

Jean Baptiste Truong Van Minh, a street barber and parish council member, elaborated on some of the challenges his people face.

Because the Vietnamese are not allowed to own land, they have to rent land from local Khmer to build their houses on, he said, adding that the rent amounts to US$20-50 a year.

The Vietnamese are not given Cambodian citizenship and their children do not have birth certificates. Many children do not speak Khmer and cannot study at state-run schools, said Minh, who has four children. The parish now has a Khmer teacher who teaches the language to 50 children.

Father Giraldo, based in Phnom Penh, told UCA News he visits the parish every weekend to celebrate Mass, hear confessions, administer sacraments and meet teachers of two kindergartens and the Catholic Study Center the parish runs.

The priest, a member of the Colombia-based Yarumal foreign mission society, explained the Church in Cambodia wants Vietnamese communities to be integrated into the national culture and its policy is to celebrate Mass in Khmer. He noted that of the country's 20,000 Catholics, about 16,000 are of Vietnamese descent.

Both Sides Vow Restraint of Border Violence

Thailand's Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat, right, walks with his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, after a bilateral meeting during the Asia-Europe Meeting in Beijing.

By Reporters, VOA Khmer
Original reports from Cambodia
24 October 2008

The prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia agreed during talks in Beijing Friday to prevent further border violence between soldiers on both sides, while military commanders in Siem Reap failed to reach an agreement on withdrawal.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Friday the results from Beijing and Siem Reap were similar.

“Both sides agreed to avoid conflict and maintain peace,” he said, adding that he hoped the countries would move away from armed confrontation and toward more friendly talks.

Prime Minsiter Hun Sen met with his Thai counterpart, Somchai Wongsawat, Friday morning, on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe Meeting.

Both leaders agreed to avoid further conflicts in a months-long border dispute, following a flash of violence last week in three gun battles near Preah Vihear temple, leading to the death of at least three Cambodian soldiers and one Thai.

"The two sides have to advise our troops not to have confrontations any longer," Agence France-Presse quoted Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornviwat saying after the prime ministers spoke.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said both sides were “moving in a good track,” AFP reported.

In Siem Reap, commanders for Cambodia’s Military Region 4 and Thailand’s Military Region 2 met for the 11th round of Regional Border Committee talks.

“Both sides agreed to exercise utmost restraint in order to avoid confrontation or armed clashes, as have previously occurred,” the Thai Regional Border Committee said in a statement following Friday’s talks.

Neither meeting produced a substantial timetable for the withdrawal of heavily armed troops that have been deployed along the border since July.

Any negotiation on disputed border land had to meet the approval of Thailand’s parliament, which was scheduled to deliberate on the issues Oct. 28, the committee said. “Therefore, it was hoped that negotiation will take place soon.”

Thun Saray, president of Adhoc, welcomed the negotiations, but he appealed to the Thai side to respect the results of the meetings. Even though both sides have promised to avoid confrontation, Thailand continues to build up troops along the border, he said.

Opposition Names Acting Secretary-General

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
24 October 2008

The opposition Sam Rainsy Party has named Ke Sovannaroth, a Siem Reap parliamentarian, to replace its outgoing secretary-general, Eng Chhay Ieng.

Ke Sovannaroth said she hoped to strengthen the internal rules and leadership structure of the party "to push for internal unity and strengthen the party's work."

Eng Chhay Ieng resigned from the position after July's national election, where the Sam Rainsy Party took 26 National Assembly seats, following a spate of defections from members to the ruling Cambodian People's Party. He still holds a National Assembly seat for the opposition.

Ke Sovannaroth, who is the wife of lawmaker Yim Sovann, will be the first woman to hold the position, which manages all of the party's operations, from the top levels and grass roots.

She takes the position as the opposition prepares for provincial and municipal council elections next year.

Her priorities will be "to strengthen the party's leadership structure, promote opposition work, unite activists and supporters and democrats, and increase the confidence of the public," she said.

"She really has enough capacity and experience to lead the party to be popular and more active than before," party leader Sam Rainsy said. "She has known clearly the Sam Rainsy Party's structure and culture and has the ability to solve all the problems."

Group To Protest at The Hague Over Border

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
24 October 2008

Khmer audio aired 24 October 2008 (0.98 MB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 24 October 2008 (0.98 MB) - Listen (MP3)

A group of Cambodians living in the Netherlands plans to stage a protest at The Hague in November, demanding that the International Court take action in an ongoing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

Around 400 Cambodians from European countries and the US are expected to call for support of a 1962 decision by the International Court giving ownership of Preah Vihear temple and lands surrounding it to Cambodia, according to organizer Pothi Tey Svathey.

Thailand does not dispute Cambodia’s ownership of the temple, but it disputes nearby border land claimed by Cambodia.

Cambodia and Thailand have been at odds since July, when Thai soldiers entered a pagoda in one disputed area, following the inscription of nearby Preah Vihear temple as a Unesco World Heritage site. Thousands of soldiers have since massed on the border on each side, and fighting between soldiers last week left at least three Cambodians and one Thai soldier dead.

“We will bring a complaint to the Hague court about the Thai military or Thai government invasion of Cambodian territory and also the violation of the Hague court decision,” Pothi Tey Savathey said.

Thai officials maintain they have not invaded Cambodian territory and that Thai soldiers occupy Thai land.

The group will also complain to Unesco and the UN Security Council, she said, adding that she hoped the governments of Thailand and Cambodia would solve the border dispute peacefully and at the international level, Pothi Tey Savathey said.

“So what we are doing is just complain it through international law,” she said. “We really don’t want war to happen again.”

Both governments have side they remain committed to bilateral solutions.

Ir Channa, general secretary of the Cambodian Watchdog Council in Norway, said his group also urged a solution to the dispute through the International Court.

“The Hague court is our only hope that Cambodia will receive victory with pride and make sure that we don’t lost our land and our historical heritage,” he said.

Court Releases Six Accused in Land Dispute

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
24 October 2008

Kampong Thom provincial court on Friday released six people in a land dispute with forestry officials, charging only three with deforestation.

Math Sareth, 44, Thach Sarin, 44, and Po Kin, 24, were released on bail, prosecutor Ty Sovanthal said.

The court charged that the three had destroyed parts of a forest in Son Touk district across 16 square kilometers, but found no evidence to charge three others.

The six were arrested earlier this week by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture’s forestry administration, after they led hundreds of families in the development of Banteay Rongeang,a village for disabled people.

Villagers admitted no wrongdoing in building their village, but say they are being removed from land after a land concession was granted to a Vietnamese company to establish a plantation.

Pictures from Preah Vihear

A Cambodian soldier stands guard at the frontline, top of the mountain, of Phnom Trop on the outskirt of the famed Preah Vihear temple, near Cambodian-Thai border, Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia resolved Friday to settle their countries' border dispute peacefully, foreign ministers from the two nations said.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Thai soldier, second left, stands in a line of Cambodian soldiers as the other three Thai soldiers, right, talk each other on a road near the famed Preah Vihear temple, in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia resolved Friday October 24, 2008, to settle their countries' border dispute peacefully, foreign ministers from the two nations said.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Thai soldiers stand guard next to their tents at the frontline near the famed Preah Vihear temple, in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. Thai and Cambodian military officials on Friday October 24, 2008, ended their talks without an agreement again for the tense border dispute that almost led the two Southeast Asian neighbors to an outright war.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian soldiers stand guard on the outskirts of the famed Preah Vihear temple, near the Cambodian-Thai border, in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. Thai and Cambodian military officials on Friday October 24, 2008, ended their talks without an agreement again for the tense border dispute that almost led the two Southeast Asian neighbors to an outright war.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Thai soldier makes his way in a mountain at the frontline near the famed Preah Vihear temple, Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. Thai and Cambodian military officials on Friday October 24, 2008, ended their talks without an agreement again for the tense border dispute that almost led the two Southeast Asian neighbors to an outright war.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Thai soldier holds rocket launchers at the frontline on the outskirts of the famed Preah Vihear temple, near the Cambodian-Thai border, in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. Thai and Cambodian military officials on Friday October 24, 2008, ended their talks without an agreement again for the tense border dispute that almost led the two Southeast Asian neighbors to an outright war.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Cambodian soldier, front row left, checks out B-40 launchers together with Thai soldiers at the frontline, top of the mountain, of Phnom Trop on the outskirt of the famed Preah Vihear temple, near Cambodian-Thai border, Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia resolved Friday to settle their countries' border dispute peacefully, foreign ministers from the two nations said.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
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A Cambodian soldier carries a rocket launcher as he guards at the frontline on the outskirt of the famed Preah Vihear temple, near the Cambodian-Thai border, in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008. Thai and Cambodian military officials on Friday October 24, 2008, ended their talks without an agreement again for the tense border dispute that almost led the two Southeast Asian neighbors to an outright war.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Thailand's Gen. Wiboonsak Neeparn, foreground, gestures during a negotiation about a reset of soldier zones of the Cambodian-Thai border at the frontline near the famed Preah Vihear temple, Preah Vihear province, Cambodia. Thai and Cambodian military officials opened Friday a new round of talks aimed at trying to defuse armed tension following a deadly clash in the border spat between the two neighbors' troops.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian Maj. Gen. Chea Morn gestures during a negotiation about a reset of soldier zones of the Cambodian-Thai border at the frontline near the famed Preah Vihear temple, Preah Vihear province, Cambodia. Thai and Cambodian military officials opened Friday a new round of talks aimed at trying to defuse armed tension following a deadly clash in the border spat between the two neighbors' troops.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Thailand's Gen. Wiboonsak Neeparn, right, listens to a translator during a negotiation about a reset of soldier zones of the Cambodian-Thai border at the frontline near the famed Preah Vihear temple, Preah Vihear province, Cambodia. Thai and Cambodian military officials opened Friday a new round of talks aimed at trying to defuse armed tension following a deadly clash in the border spat between the two neighbors' troops.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Officials attend the 11th meeting of regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand

Cambodian police officials stand guard in front of a hotel in Siem Reap province. Cambodia's defence minister teed off with Thai military officials Thursday in a spot of golf diplomacy ahead of talks aimed at resolving a fierce border dispute.(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Thai military officials hold a meeting in Siem Reap province. Cambodia's defence minister teed off with Thai military officials Thursday in a spot of golf diplomacy ahead of talks aimed at resolving a fierce border dispute.(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Officials attend the 11th meeting of regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (R) talks with his Cambodian counterpart General Chea Morn (L), commander of Cambodia's 4th military region, before a meeting in a hotel in Siem Reap October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (L) toasts with his Cambodian counterpart, General Chea Morn, Cambodia general commander of the 4th region, after the 11th meeting of regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Southeast (CAMBODIA)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (L) toasts with his Cambodian counterpart, General Chea Morn, Cambodia general commander of the 4th region, after the 11th meeting of regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Southeast (Reuters)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (L) shakes hands with his Cambodian counterpart Chea Morn (R), general commander of the 4th region, after signing documents regarding the two borders at the 11th meeting of the regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2nd Army area of Thailand in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS/Chor Southeast (CAMBODIA)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (R) walks with his Cambodian counterpart General Chea Morn (L), commander of Cambodia's 4th military region, before a meeting in a hotel in Siem Reap October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (4th R) attends the 11th meeting of regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Sokunthea (Reuters)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (L) exchanges signed documents regarding the two borders with his Cambodian counterpart, General Chea Morn, Cambodia general commander of the 4th region, after the 11th meeting of regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Southeast (Reuters)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (L) signs a document beside his Cambodian counterpart General Chea Morn, commander of the 4th region, after the 11th meeting of the regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (4th L) poses for photographs with his Cambodian counterpart General Chea Morn (C), commander of the 4th region, after the 11th meeting of the regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Thai regional army commander Wiboonsak Neeparn (2nd R) poses for photographs with his Cambodian counterpart General Chea Morn (R), commander of the 4th region, after the 11th meeting of the regional border committee between the 4th military region of Cambodia and the 2rd Army area of Thailand at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 320 km (199 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 24, 2008.REUTERS /Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Cambodian LTG Chea Morn (right) and his Thai counterpart Wiboonsak Neeparn at a meeting in Siem Reap province. Thailand and Cambodia agreed Friday to prevent a simmering border dispute boiling over into further armed conflict, in a sign that tensions were easing after deadly clashes last week(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

UNESCO to demarcate Preah Vihear temple

www.chinaview.cn

2008-10-24

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage committee expects to determine the boundary of Preah Vihear temple in late November or early December, officially marking the disputed area as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Cambodian national media reported Friday.

Despite the ongoing border dispute that has left two statues inthe Preah Vihear temple complex damaged by gunfire, the area would be demarcated and signposted as a UN monument as planned, Phay Siphan, secretary of state at the Cambodian Council of Ministers, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

Phay Siphan claimed that Thai soldiers violated international law by intentionally damaging the site during fighting that erupted last week over disputed border territory.

"The Preah Vihear complex and the surrounding areas were invaded by Thais, and the Thai soldiers intended to destroy the temple," he said.

Phay Siphan said that the Preah Vihear Authority has already complained to UNESCO about the damage done to two naga statues, which were allegedly struck by rounds or shell fragments during the Oct. 15 clash between Cambodian and Thai troops.

The 11th-century temple complex was listed as a UN World Heritage site on July 7 in a decision that angered Thai nationalists and escalated tensions over contested border areas.

Min Sovann, a heritage police officer with the Preah Vihear Authority, confirmed that two naga statues and a stairway at the temple complex were slightly damaged by rounds fired from Thai M79grenade launchers.

The naga statues sustained damage to their heads, necks and bodies, but the pockmarks will not cause the naga statues to collapse, he said.

Editor: Du Guodong

Credit crisis rattles civil society

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Major development partners such as the UN may be unlikely to pull out, but local NGOs are concerned about the impact of the global credit crisis on their funding.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Post Staff
Friday, 24 October 2008

Many local civil society groups are concerned that their donations will dry up as the credit crisis takes hold in developed nations, limiting future generosity

CAMBODIA's civil society groups are under threat from the global credit crisis that looks set to severely limit the amount of available donor funding.

"The government collects tax and has other sources of income, but NGOs have only one source of funding: donors," said Thun Saray, president of Cambodian rights group Adhoc.

Adhoc has an average monthly running cost of between US$100,000 and $200,000, which all comes from donors. Were donors to reduce funding in 2009, the organisation would have no option but to cut back on lower-priority projects, Thun Saray said.

According to Eric Sidgwich, senior country economist for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), inflows of foreign aid, or official development assistance, were likely to be "more resilient" than inflows of foreign direct investment, at least in the immediate future, due to the fact that aid comes from government budgets. In the long term, there is a risk that the amount of aid could decrease, but it would not be until 2009 before the effects would really be felt, he said.

"It is a hope that countries like Cambodia, which are still heavily aid dependent, who still have high instances of poverty, will be somewhat shielded from these events," Sidgwich said. "But I think the jury is still out on that," he added.

But for many, such as Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), the lack of long-term security is a major concern.

"Now we have to have funds of more than $250,000 to operate our projects for next year," he said. "But we are still worried about [the credit crisis] because it will affect our organisation ... if it continues."

He expressed worry over the chance that hundreds of millions of dollars of aid for poverty alleviation projects would be lost.

"If donor countries have a financial crisis, they will think about whether to donate funds to Cambodia," he said.

Not such a problem

Others, such as Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), were less concerned. He said DC-Cam's annual running costs are approximately $500,000, most of which is covered by the organisation's investment endowment, which is held in New York, and funds from the sale of books, pictures and DVDs about its work.

"Our investment endowment earns interest of about $200,000 per year," he said, adding that the sale of books, pictures and films earns DC-Cam about $100,000 per year. Another $200,000 comes from donors.

The government is also concerned that both aid to the government and donor funding for NGOs could dry up, said Mey Vann, director of finance at the Ministry of Economy.

He said that the government is currently devising a strategy to lobby donor countries to keep providing aid to Cambodia, even in difficult times, saying the Kingdom remains one of the world's least developed countries, he said.

Falling rubber prices put sector's future in question

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
Young rubber plants in Ratanakkiri. Despite rubber prices plummeting, analysts say the emerging sector can withstand a downturn.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chun Sophal and Nguon Sovan
Friday, 24 October 2008

Rural farmers are seeing their incomes threatened as rubber prices take a hit from soaring Chinese stockpiles and declining global demand

FALLING demand and high stockpiles in China have sent rubber prices tumbling, putting Cambodia's future as a rubber producer in question.

Prices have plummeted from US$3,200 a tonne in April to $1,800 currently, but local experts maintain the commodity will recover.

"We think that the decline in the price of rubber will not cause rubber farmers to lose money. If farmers can sell their goods at a price of more than $1,000, they will make a profit. In contrast, if the rubber price goes below $1,000 per tonne, the farmers will see losses," said Ly Phalla, director general at the General Directorate of Rubber Plantations.

He added, however, that declining prices will not affect the expansion of the rubber sector, which is expected to grow to 150,000 hectares by 2015, an increase of 50 percent.

Cambodia exports 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of latex per year to Vietnam and China. Most of Cambodia's 100,000 hectares of rubber plantation are new fields that have not yet gone into production.

But Ly Phalla said that by 2010, Cambodia would produce enough rubber to support a tyre plant and sponge plant for the export market.

He also said that Cambodia will be able to export 80,000 tonnes of latex rubber by 2015, and 150,000 tonnes by 2020. In 2007, the global rubber demand was 22 million tonnes.

The Financial Times reported that Chinese merchants have defaulted on contracts to buy rubber from Thailand, the world's largest supplier.

"Some are cancelling contracts, but many more are trying to renegotiate to lower the price," Piyaporn Saelim, of the Thai Rubber Association, told the FT. Most rubber is consumed by the auto industry, which is in decline.

Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodian Economic Association, said that the precipitous price drop is a concern for farmers, but he is optimistic that the decline is temporary.

"The rubber price in Cambodia in the last 10 years has gradually increased.... Rubber plantations take a long time to produce a yield," Chan Sophal said.

"The decline in price will not discourage farmers from planting rubber trees because the decline may only be short term."

Hak Vantha, 45, a rubber farmer with 70 hectares in Kampong Cham province, said the decline in the price of rubber does not concern him.

"Even if the price goes down, the plantations will still make a profit from both resin and wood," he said.

Aussie program wins UN peace award

THE AUSTRALIAN
October 24, 2008

AN ABC television program about two traumatised Vietnam veterans on a mission to deactivate mines in Cambodia has won an United Nations Media Peace Award.

Bomber and Roy is the story of veterans, Tony "Bomber" Bower-Miles and Roy Chamberlain, who made peace with their difficult lives by deactivating Cambodian mines.

Victorian Minister for Senior Victorians Lisa Neville tonight presented the 2008 UN Media Peace Award for depicting positive images of ageing and older people to ABC TV's Australian Story for their portrayal of the pair.

Ms Neville said the pair were powerful role models for older people and the unexpected benefit of volunteering in later years.

"Bomber and Roy's story is extraordinary, but there are many other older people who stay active and help their communities by volunteering and it is important that their work is recognised."

The United Nations Media Peace Awards aim to promote understanding and awareness about humanitarian and social justice issues, and the values of peace, cooperation and mediation rather than conflict and violence.

Charting a changing Cham

Photo by: PHOTO SUPPLIED: Cham anthropologist Bjorn Blengsli.

Meet Bjorn blengsli
Cham anthropologist Bjorn Blengsli started his field research in 2001 while living in a village without toilets, electricity or running water. He has since been solicited by western embassies and research institutes across the globe, including the Washington DC-based National Bureau of Asian Research, whose interest in Cambodia’s Muslims spiked following September 11. Blengsi has written a chapter about Islamic education in Cambodia in an academic book about Muslims in Southeast Asia to be released in January 2009.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Brendan Brady
Friday, 24 October 2008

He's survived attacks by armed cattle thieves and been accused of being a CIA spy, but his fascination with the Cham continues

Why did you start your research?
I came to Cambodia because the country has always fascinated me and information about the country's Muslim society was scarce. That the Kingdom's Muslim community also arguably is one of the fastest-changing Muslim societies in the world and the fact that there weren't too many competitors around in 2001 was obviously important.

How did you start?
I came for my dissertation field work in July 2001 and almost immediately went to settle in a Muslim village in the countryside where I learned the Khmer language by participation and observation, and started conducting field work. And I've been here ever since then.

How has the Cham community changed?
Though the first reform movements came in the 1950s, I have focused my research on the rebuilding of Cambodia's Muslim society since the early 1990s. The post-Khmer Rouge society has been rebuilt almost exclusively with foreign money. This process was, and still is, highly competitive and has featured an unprecedented modernisation of the education system. There are two defining characteristics to this modernisation. On the one hand there is the growing consciousness on the part of Muslims that Islam is a coherent system of practices and beliefs, and on the other there is an increasing tendency to make those beliefs concrete by very specific codes of dress and behaviour. The Muslim establishment has realised that education systems have a direct role in giving rise to new social and political identities in the next generation. So, they see control of it as vital and try to promote certain religious ideologies in order to fulfill their strategic ends within the contemporary religious and secular discourses on the kingdom's Muslim society.

How have you collected information?
When I started, I occasionally used a Khmer assistant who came to my village once every three weeks. I did household interviews, participated in day-to-day life, discussed religious differences and basically wrote everything down in my diaries. My village occasionally had problems with cattle thieves and kidnappers. Most bandits used to be armed, but the villagers were not. I remember some scary episodes involving bandits with guns. After September 11, I got arrested and expelled from the village and the district. I was accused of being one of "60 identified CIA spies". A letter from the Ministry of Religion and a meeting with (then undersecretary of state) Zakaryya Adam and later (then undersecretary of state for cults and religions) Ismael Ousman got me out of it in the end. However, if we overlook the CIA episode, and a few incidents involving armed bandits attacking the village at night, I had a fantastic time.

How has your acceptance by the Cham community changed over the years?
Initially I had some problems because I wanted to settle in the Jama'at Tabligh stronghold: Phum Trea, in Kampong Cham's Krouch Chhmar district. When they refused to have me I went to settle in Rokar Popram in the Tbaung Khmum district. I immediately felt welcome and as soon as I got used to no electricity, toilets, roads and running water, I had a great time. Since then I guess Muslims in most parts of the country got used to me, which does not necessarily indicate that they see me as their best friend.

What is the most important misunderstanding Khmers and Westerners have about Cambodian Muslims?
Many Khmers consider Muslims threatening because they see their allegiance extending beyond Cambodia. For Khmers, the Muslims have a reputation as powerful magicians capable of making curses, etc, but more serious are current beliefs that Muslims want to give all the land east of the Mekong to the Vietnamese and that armed youth gangs wants an independent Muslim republic in Kampong Cham. The consequence is that they're seen as both a political threat and culturally different than the Khmer.

Westerners and Khmers alike don't understand why Muslims here are changing. My research into the nature of religious change among Cambodian Muslims shows troubling trends, about both the spread of new religious beliefs and the political and social reorientation of many Cambodian Muslims, especially young people. My research, which has primarily focused on religious schools and foreign donors ,has shown that the education is turning more political when the students reach high school level. It is still too early to say if this will create tensions between the Muslim community and Khmer society, but regrettably it looks as though that may be the case.

What is the most important thing Cambodian Muslims don't understand about Khmer society?
The Muslim understanding of Cambodian society and religion is minimal and tells us that the ignorance of each others' religions is mutual. Their religion also prevents them from celebrating or recognising many Buddhist national holidays.

However, a large minority of Muslims believe, rightly so, that their Khmer neighbors do not like them, that Khmers receive better education and that they would be discriminated against if they applied for the same job as Khmer. I am not claiming that I have found the solution for the path to social advancement, the topic is more complex than that, but secular education should be implemented in all Muslim schools. The secular education among Muslims is still low when compared to that of the Khmer, with Muslim girls most disadvantaged in their pursuit of secular education. Increased knowledge not only about the Khmer society, but also the different sects within Islam is also imperative. As many as 99 percent of Muslim religious students believe there is only one correct interpretation of their religion and this is extremely dangerous.

What areas have been most neglected by researchers?
The religious education systems needs to be further researched. Cambodia has several different religious education systems with distinctively different curricula. My research has found that much of the change in religious orientation, particularly the growing sympathy for fundamentalist understandings of the faith and terrorism, are related to Islamic schooling.

I have successfully uncovered relations between different types of religious schooling and conflicting religious interpretations and political attitudes.

The schools' religious content are closely linked to the type of religion practiced in the donor countries. Precise information is still missing on the role of these religious schools outside of Cambodia. It will be very difficult to predict the future shape and alignment of Muslim institutions in the country - to say nothing about the ability of the Cambodian state and foreign governments to respond to these changes in an informed manner, without proper information about what Cambodian Muslims learn abroad.

Are researchers of Cambodia's Muslim community conducting themselves responsibly?
There are some excellent researchers here. But I am concerned about reports of certain researchers who have pretended to convert to Islam in order to gain the confidence of Muslim informants. Muslims consider such people hypocrites, or munafiq - one who is more dangerous to Muslims than the enemies of Islam. I am afraid that this kind of devious behavior will negatively impact legitimate researchers in the future.

Oxfam America to Expand Community Finance Program in Mali and Cambodia

Friday, October 24, 2008

infoZine Staff

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $11.7 million grant

Boston, MA - infoZIne - International development and relief organization Oxfam America today announced it received an $11.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Saving for Change, the organization's unique community finance program. Oxfam will continue to collaborate with Freedom from Hunger and Stromme Foundation to launch an unprecedented expansion of Saving for Change over the next three years.

Oxfam's innovative approach to community finance breaks with that of traditional microfinance institutions. Saving for Change trains large numbers of savings and credit groups in the poorest regions of the world to save together and make loans to each other with their own resources instead of taking out a loan from a bank, credit union or microfinance institution.

"The first Saving for Change group was trained three years ago. Today, over 150,000 villagers in Mali and Cambodia have already joined savings and lending groups," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. "With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we will reach close to 550,000 villagers in the next three years."

With this growth, Saving for Change will become the largest microfinance program in these two countries and the only one reaching the rural poor at this scale. Village groups act as their own community banks, providing villagers with a place to save and easy access to loans. As a result, poor people living in remote areas with little or no financial institutions can access self-managed financial services to build assets, increase incomes, and improve the livelihoods of their families.

"Not only is Saving for Change different because it is based on saving instead of borrowing, it also relies on person-to-person training and relationships instead of technology. This helps build trust and ultimately makes the savings and lending groups more sustainable," said Offenheiser.

Oxfam will use this grant to replicate its community finance model in communities throughout Mali and Cambodia. In addition, it will allow the organization an opportunity to explore further program growth in Latin America.

Millions of people in Asia and Africa live on one dollar a day or less, and few have access to savings or other financial services that can help them increase their financial security and improve their lives. Without places to save, it is difficult for families to build savings to pay for educational fees, medical bills, or emergencies. Others have little or no access to micro loans that could improve their incomes through investments like setting up a small sales kiosk, buying crop fertilizer, or acquiring an animal for breeding.

Funding to expand Saving for Change comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Financial Services for the Poor initiative, which works with partners to make savings and other financial services available in developing countries so the poor can better manage life's risks and take advantage of life's opportunities.

"The innovative savings and lending approach has been successful at bringing affordable financial services to people with very low incomes living in remote communities," said Bob Christen, director of the Financial Services for the Poor initiative. "We believe that Saving for Change's groups will open the door to opportunity and increased household financial security for many poor people."

The grant also supports program evaluation and research that will help document and fully measure Oxfam's impact on communities. Researchers will be asking key questions on the affect participating in Saving for Change has including:

Does it affect how-and how much-women save and borrow?
Does it improve risk-coping and food security?
Does it build crucial social networks and businesses?

And, does it improve agricultural production?"The research component of this grant will help us fine tune our program so that it best meets the needs of the poor," concluded Offenheiser. "Documenting Saving for Change's success will also help build momentum for expanding savings-led community finance programs around the world."

Saving for Change is implemented by Oxfam America in collaboration with Freedom from Hunger and Norway-based Stromme Foundation. Freedom from Hunger's support includes developing training manuals, and contributing technical assistance for the planning, implementation and evaluation of the program. Stromme Foundation, along with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, underwrites the costs for the teams training savings and lending groups in Mali.

Local medical team to travel to Cambodia

UNION-TRIBUNE
October 23, 2008

SAN DIEGO: An 11-member team of San Diego doctors, nurses and other surgical staff members is scheduled to perform 20 operations on children with heart defects during a 10-day medical mission to Cambodia at the end of the month.

The team consists of staffers from Rady Children's Hospital and UCSD Medical Center. The trip, which starts today, is being led by Dr. Paul Grossfeld, a cardiologist at Rady and an assistant adjunct professor at UCSD.

The mission is sponsored by Variety Children's Lifeline, a nonprofit group in Solana Beach that provides medical help to children with treatable heart conditions in developing countries. –K.D.

Thailand, Cambodia agree to prevent further border clashes

Cambodian LTG Chea Morn (right) and his Thai counterpart Wiboonsak Neeparn at a meeting in Siem Reap province

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nambong (left) with his Thai counterpart Sompong Amornvivat in Beijing

BEIJING (AFP) — Thailand and Cambodia agreed Friday to prevent a simmering border dispute boiling over into further armed conflict, in a sign that tensions were easing after deadly clashes last week.

Speaking in Beijing after talks between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Somchai Wongsawat, the foreign ministers of the Southeast Asian neighbours said the two leaders agreed to avoid future clashes.

"The two sides have to advise our troops not to have confrontations any longer," Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornviwat told reporters, summarising the agreement made on the sidelines of a summit of Asian and European leaders.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, standing alongside Sompong, echoed his counterpart, describing the talks as "very good, very friendly."

"We are moving in a good track. Not only to solve the problem of the borders between our two countries but also on a good track to improve our neighbourliness and cooperation," Hor Namhong said.

Tensions between the two neighbours flared in July when an ancient temple on their border was awarded United Nations World Heritage status, rekindling long-running tensions over ownership of land surrounding the temple.

The situation quickly escalated into a military confrontation, with up to 1,000 Cambodian and Thai troops facing off for six weeks, although both sides in August agreed to reduce troop numbers in the main disputed area.

Shots were exchanged last week between soldiers stationed on disputed land near the temple, which belongs to Cambodia, leaving one Thai and three Cambodian soldiers dead.

Negotiations between military leaders in northern Cambodia on Friday sounded a similar note, with senior Thai officials insisting that talks with their Cambodian counterparts were easing the border tensions.

The Thai commanders, led by Lieutenant General Wiboonsak Neeparn, said there was a "friendly atmosphere" in the talks with the Cambodians but insisted Thailand's soldiers would stand firm.

"The Thai side strongly reiterates that the position of our troop deployments is clearly inside Thai territory," said a statement from Thai commanders released as the meetings began.

Thailand's terms of negotiation must be approved in parliament on Tuesday before the two countries can hold further border talks.

Cambodian and Thai military officials agreed to joint border patrols a day after last week's clashes. But Cambodian commanders have since backed out, saying such patrols are not possible in disputed areas.

The Cambodian-Thai border has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.