REUTERS,
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
Cambodia, which a top U.N. official labeled a potential "breeding ground for terrorism," approved on July 7 a counter-terrorism law that aims to tighten the impoverished country’s defenses, officials said.
The law, drafted with the help of Australian and British legal experts, was approved by the cabinet and should be ratified by the National Assembly next week, said Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
"Cambodia is not a key target of terrorists, but we cannot isolate ourselves from the world," he told Reuters.
The law allows for the seizure of assets and imposes a maximum penalty of life in prison for those convicted of terrorism-related crimes, said Hi Sophea, a deputy justice minister in charge of the law.
It also strengthens Cambodia’s legal cooperation with other countries in the region, including the extradition of suspects.
Two years ago a top U.N. security official, Heraldo Munoz, said Cambodia lacked basic resources to catch terrorists and could become a "breeding ground for terrorism."
Munoz cited a reported visit to the country by Indonesian preacher Hambali, who authorities believe was al-Qaida’s point man in Southeast Asia.
Hambali, who is thought to have been the mastermind behind the 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, has been in U.S. custody since his 2003 arrest in Thailand.
Munoz’s comments drew an angry rebuke from Hun Sen who said his government was geared up to root out insurgents and had provided information that led to Hambali’s arrest.
However, Hun Sen acknowledged last year that his country needed help to fight smugglers supplying arms to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels in Sri Lanka, insurgents in the Philippines and ethnic Karen rebels in Myanmar.
The arms, accumulated during long years of fighting in the 1970s and 1980s as the Khmer Rouge won a civil war and were then ousted by a Vietnamese invasion, were easily shipped out due to a lack of monitoring equipment at border crossing and ports.
"Terrorists could use containers to hide explosives and detonate them on the ships or in the planes on arrival overseas," Hun Sen said last year.
The law, drafted with the help of Australian and British legal experts, was approved by the cabinet and should be ratified by the National Assembly next week, said Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen.
"Cambodia is not a key target of terrorists, but we cannot isolate ourselves from the world," he told Reuters.
The law allows for the seizure of assets and imposes a maximum penalty of life in prison for those convicted of terrorism-related crimes, said Hi Sophea, a deputy justice minister in charge of the law.
It also strengthens Cambodia’s legal cooperation with other countries in the region, including the extradition of suspects.
Two years ago a top U.N. security official, Heraldo Munoz, said Cambodia lacked basic resources to catch terrorists and could become a "breeding ground for terrorism."
Munoz cited a reported visit to the country by Indonesian preacher Hambali, who authorities believe was al-Qaida’s point man in Southeast Asia.
Hambali, who is thought to have been the mastermind behind the 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, has been in U.S. custody since his 2003 arrest in Thailand.
Munoz’s comments drew an angry rebuke from Hun Sen who said his government was geared up to root out insurgents and had provided information that led to Hambali’s arrest.
However, Hun Sen acknowledged last year that his country needed help to fight smugglers supplying arms to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels in Sri Lanka, insurgents in the Philippines and ethnic Karen rebels in Myanmar.
The arms, accumulated during long years of fighting in the 1970s and 1980s as the Khmer Rouge won a civil war and were then ousted by a Vietnamese invasion, were easily shipped out due to a lack of monitoring equipment at border crossing and ports.
"Terrorists could use containers to hide explosives and detonate them on the ships or in the planes on arrival overseas," Hun Sen said last year.
1 comment:
Oh God! Did I missed something here? AH HUN SEN couldn't even pass anti-corruption law and now he want to pass counter-terrorism law?
AH HUN SEN dictator admitted that he couldn't isolate Cambodia from the world regarding terrorism. Duh? Come on man! Half of AH HUN SEN's national budget came from foreign country and united nations!
The connection to the outside world is the life line for AH HUN SEN regime otherwise there would be chaos and coup after coup and killing after killing.
Whatever HUN SEN!
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