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| Southeast Asia |
| Hun Sen Orders Missiles Destroyed |
| 2003-12-16 |
| Cambodia’s prime minister has ordered the destruction of the country’s surface-to-air missiles to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists, the government said Tuesday. Hun Sen issued the order after a meeting in the capital, Phnom Penh, on Monday with U.S. Ambassador Charles Ray. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Heide Bronke said Ray and Hun Sen held a routine meeting to discuss counterterrorism and security and that the decision to eliminate the weapons was "unilateral." An assistant to Hun Sen, Leng Sophalleth, quoted the prime minister as saying he ordered the missiles destroyed "in order to contribute to ensuring safety and thwart terrorism." Why, thank you very much. The decision likely stemmed from fears the missiles might be stolen from the military and sold to terrorists. Small arms and other weapons left over from three decades of civil war in Cambodia are widely available on the black market. The prime minister called for "the destruction of all anti-aircraft weapons, which are the type A-72 surface-to-air missiles, from the depots of Cambodia’s Ministry of Defense," said the statement dated Monday. The ministry has 233 of the missiles, it said. They are leftovers from the 80s and may not be serviceable, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure. In May, Cambodian authorities closed Umm Al Qura, a Saudi-funded religious organization, and arrested four people - an Egyptian, two Thais and a Cambodian - suspected of links to the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaida’s arm in Southeast Asia. "We’ve seen hell, and don’t want to go back." Hun Sen said in September that his government had foiled an attempt by Jemaah Islamiyah’s alleged operations chief, Hambali, to launder money in Cambodia to fund attacks. Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, was arrested in Thailand in August and is now in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location. Most likely Bagram. Ray, the American ambassador, said the United States would dispatch weapons experts to help Cambodia destroy the missiles "as soon as possible," the statement said. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Bronke said details of the U.S.-Cambodian cooperation are still under discussion." Working out the size of the "loan". |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Burma must be in a no-compete agreement with White-Slag-producing Kimchi |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-12-16 7:00:01 PM |