Phnom Penh Post, Issue 15 / 10, May 19 - June 1, 2006
A military-police post has been set up outside one of Cambodia's largest ancient temple compounds to protect it from hired tomb raiders with machine-guns and metal detectors, after information was received by preservation NGO Heritage Watch.
Heritage Watch founder and director Dr Dougald O'Reilly said this week that his office received a report that "powerful officials are hiring armed looters to pillage the temple of Preah Khan."
O'Reilly said he would not speculate on who these powerful officials were, and the source of the information would not give a name out of fear for personal safety.
Immediately after receiving the tip-off, Heritage Watch notified the Ministry of Culture. Within three days military and police had set up a cooperative post at the site that remains in constant radio contact with Phnom Penh.
"I have to applaud the government in this instance because they've acted swiftly to protect the site," O'Reilly said.
Although Preah Khan's huge moat and compound walls remain structurally intact, the vast internal complex of temple ruins has already been almost entirely ransacked of its priceless carvings. However, according to the informant, new looters hope to remove the few statues missed by earlier thieves, and to search the compound for bronze relics using metal detectors.
Preah Khan, also called Prasat Bakan, is near the village of Ta Seng in Preah Vihear province. Since the late 1990s it has been raided repeatedly. In 2003, a disastrous looting attempt led to the collapse of one of the temples, leaving a pile of rubble where there was once a tower.
"In such a remote area with no phone coverage and poor roads, it took a long time for the news to get out about what was happening, and locals couldn't do anything to stop it because the looters had weapons," O'Reilly said.
He described tomb-raiding as dangerous and foolhardy.
"They're not architects, that's for sure. They're trying to remove essential structural elements, you take these out and the whole structure collapses."
"Our source says the most recent looters are searching the ruins for bronze amulets. Already they've used the detectors to find bronze bangles which were in large stone jars; which may have held cremated human remains.
"They're using large-disc metal detectors. This is expensive, heavy equipment, and possibly hired from mine-clearing teams."
Heritage Watch founder and director Dr Dougald O'Reilly said this week that his office received a report that "powerful officials are hiring armed looters to pillage the temple of Preah Khan."
O'Reilly said he would not speculate on who these powerful officials were, and the source of the information would not give a name out of fear for personal safety.
Immediately after receiving the tip-off, Heritage Watch notified the Ministry of Culture. Within three days military and police had set up a cooperative post at the site that remains in constant radio contact with Phnom Penh.
"I have to applaud the government in this instance because they've acted swiftly to protect the site," O'Reilly said.
Although Preah Khan's huge moat and compound walls remain structurally intact, the vast internal complex of temple ruins has already been almost entirely ransacked of its priceless carvings. However, according to the informant, new looters hope to remove the few statues missed by earlier thieves, and to search the compound for bronze relics using metal detectors.
Preah Khan, also called Prasat Bakan, is near the village of Ta Seng in Preah Vihear province. Since the late 1990s it has been raided repeatedly. In 2003, a disastrous looting attempt led to the collapse of one of the temples, leaving a pile of rubble where there was once a tower.
"In such a remote area with no phone coverage and poor roads, it took a long time for the news to get out about what was happening, and locals couldn't do anything to stop it because the looters had weapons," O'Reilly said.
He described tomb-raiding as dangerous and foolhardy.
"They're not architects, that's for sure. They're trying to remove essential structural elements, you take these out and the whole structure collapses."
"Our source says the most recent looters are searching the ruins for bronze amulets. Already they've used the detectors to find bronze bangles which were in large stone jars; which may have held cremated human remains.
"They're using large-disc metal detectors. This is expensive, heavy equipment, and possibly hired from mine-clearing teams."
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