113 Cambodian Muslims Arrested At Checkpoint

BANGKOK, May 23 (Bernama) -- Thai authorities has arrested 113 Cambodian Muslims at the entrance of the Rong Klua market checkpoint as they were heading for southern border provinces of Thailand and might pose security risks, according to Thai News Agency.

The Cambodians including children carried luggage and valid passports, and claimed that they are on their way to visit their relatives in border areas of Malaysia, the authorities said.

The joint operation by paramilitary rangers of the Burapha Task Force, immigration police of Sa Kaeo province and local police of the Khlong Luek station, also seized medicines, monosodium glutamate, backpacks and camping tents.

Cambodia remembers its fallen Muslims

January 6, 2011
By Julie Masis
Asia Times

PHNOM PENH - In September 1975, 2,000 or so Cambodian Muslims picked up their swords and machetes and for several days fought off heavily armed Khmer Rouge soldiers at the village of Svay Khleang. The rebellion was sparked during the holy month of Ramadan in response to Khmer Rouge attempts to arrest Muslims for praying at their local mosque.

The rebellion was defeated but won't soon be forgotten: a museum that will preserve the stories of Muslim survivors of the Khmer Rouge's genocidal reign of terror from 1975-79 is scheduled to open at the Mabarak mosque outside Phnom Penh later this year.

Between 100,000 and 400,000 Cham Muslims died under the Khmer Rouge regime, according to figures provided by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, either from murder, starvation or disease. Most of the country's mosques were destroyed or desecrated during the Khmer Rouge's radical attempt to create a communist utopia.

Muslims Enjoy Khmer New Year, Quietly

By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
28 April 2009

Sitting on a small wooden bed inside a new mosque on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, So Pey Tah, a 50-year-old Muslim, sat talking with neighbors as all around her, Khmer compatriots were loudly celebrating the New Year.

Cambodia’s predominant Buddhists observe a lunar new year, in mid-April, in raucous celebrations that include three days of revelry, water fights, late-night dances and trips to the pagodas.

So Pey Tah, on the other hand, like most of Cambodia’s 500,000 Muslims, observed the holiday without burning offerings to the incoming spirit of the new year, selling sweets instead.

“We have to celebrate it together because we’re living in the same country,” she said. “But for me, we don’t make any offerings to welcome a new god, because we have a different religion.”

Adherents of Islam believe in one god, Allah, while Cambodian Buddhists mix animism with Theravada Buddhism, in customs influenced by ancient Hinduism.

Cambodia’s Muslims, commonly referred to as Chams, celebrate important Islamic holidays, such as the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, and Ramadan, a period of fasting, said Suos Komrey, Cambodia’s prime Islamic leader, or mufti.

“All Cambodian Muslims can freely celebrate Khmer New Year but are not allowed to go to the pagoda for prayer,” he said.

However, Loh Abdul Rosman, imam of the Kilometer 9 Mosque, outside Phnom Penh, said it was an individual’s right to pray at a pagoda, even a Muslim.

Meanwhile, many Muslim youths enjoyed New Year celebrations.

“I feel happier than usual,” 20-year-old Meut Salah told VOA Khmer as the holiday was underway. “We are playing popular games with other Chams every night.”

Chams Face Wariness of Non-Muslim Neighbors

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
23 April 2009

Cambodian Mulism leaders say their religion is still widely misunderstood by their neighbors, thanks to images on television and in the media of terrorists and extremists.

For example, since newly built mosques on the outskirts of Phnom Penh appeared, so have groups of foreign Muslim missionaries, wearing long beards and traditional robes, creating worry in nearby non-Muslims.

The imam of Kilometer 8 Mosque, Saleh Pin Apu Taleb, in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district, said the visitors are people who have come to educate Cambodia’s Cham Muslims on Islam, Allah and morality.

The visitors are from Arabic countries, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and India, the imam said, but they are not extremists.

He dismissed as misplaced the fears of non-Muslim neighbors who worry the men look like the extremists on television.

“They have just come to find dharma,” he said, using a Buddhist expression to explain the well-meaning intentions of the visitors.

“They come in groups of four, or five, or sometimes 10 people, and they educate us Cambodian Muslims in following our god,” said one Cham woman, who only gave her name as Mary.

Cambodia’s Chams are mostly considered peaceful and outside the realm of religious extremism.

However, Hambali, the leader of the group Jemaah Islamiyah, which was responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings, hid in Cambodia prior to his arrest in Bangkok in 2003.

Later that year, three other Muslims were arrested by Phnom Penh authorities and later found guilty of conspiring to commit terrorist acts against the US and British embassies.

Since then, the Chams have received greater attention from the West, and earlier this week the US sponsored a series of seminars to help Cambodian police understand Islam in Cambodia.

“Cambodian Muslims take active participation in the Cambodian government in the fight against all forms of terrorism in this country,” Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng said at the opening of the seminars, on Monday.

US Ambassador Carol Rodley said Cambodian Mulsim leaders had been “forthright and united in their condemnation of terrorism, pointing out that Islam is a religion of peace.”

Cambodian Muslims have full religious freedom says Prime Minister

May 15, 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian Muslims must be integrated into the community and their religious restrictions and needs universally respected, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new mosque, Hun Sen called for religious tolerance and acceptance of Muslims, who make up just a small percentage of the population but have been part of Cambodian culture for centuries.

'Some countries prohibit Muslim uniforms in schools. Cambodia allows it ... it is up to the individual,' he said, in reference to headscarves sometimes worn by Muslim women.

He also demanded that Muslim prayer rooms be widely available, especially in places such as airports.

And he called on international media to be slower to blame Muslim groups when covering suspected terrorist attacks, alleging some major international news groups such as CNN appeared biased against Muslims in their coverage.

Cambodian-Muslim arrested in Sa Kaeo while carrying fake Thai citizenship ID, 6 others slipped back to Cambodia

SOUTHERN UNREST INSURGENT NETWORKS

Source: Int'l terrorists financing rebel groups

Wednesday January 30, 2008
WASSANA NANUAM MUHAMMAD AYUB PATHAN
Bangkok Post

Narathiwat - Southern insurgent networks probably receive funding from and share their ideology with international terrorist groups, a security source said yesterday.

The source said proof of the links lies in the militants' systemised management of their organisations and the pattern of violent attacks perpetrated by well-trained assailants.

The rebels also appear to be financed by international terror groups and share ideologies, the source added.

Army chief Anupong Paojinda said earlier he had new information about the southern insurgency that he planned to present to the new government.

He did not elaborate.

But the source said the new information pertained to the discovery of a link between the insurgent leaders and international terrorist groups.

It contradicts what then prime minister Surayud Chulanont said previously.

Gen Surayud on Jan 18 dismissed the idea of financial connections between local militant groups and the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

He said, however, that they shared ideologies.

Gen Anupong, who visited the provincial special task force headquarters in Narathiwat's Muang district yesterday, was told that the insurgents were losing strength as more and more of their sympathisers were cooperating with local authorities.

At a briefing by task force commander Maj-Gen Theerachai Nakwanich, he was also told that many core rebel members were being arrested.

In Yala, an 80-strong combined force of police, soldiers, and rangers raided a fruit orchard in Bannang Sata district after the authorities were told Ma-aea Apibanbae, a Runda Kumpulan Kecil core leader, and his underlings were hiding there and preparing an attack.

The force and the suspected insurgents clashed for 10 minutes, and a policeman and one suspected militant were killed.

The slain rebel was believed to be Mr Ma-aea's younger brother Sulaiman, aged 27.

Also in Yala, a rubber grower was shot dead in front of a mosque in Krong Pinang sub-district on Monday night while on his way to attend evening prayers at the mosque.

In Sa Kaeo, a Cambodian Muslim was captured yesterday for carrying a fake Thai citizenship card shortly after crossing into Thailand in Aranyaprathet district, according to rangers at the Burapha task force who intercepted the suspect, police said.

The suspect, Suem Sari, 28, is believed to have travelled with six other Cambodian nationals who slipped back into Cambodia through the checkpoint when they saw him being arrested.

The group was thought to be heading for the deep South as Suem Sari was carrying with him bus tickets from Bangkok to Narathiwat.

Suem Sari also had with him a passport, which was genuine, along with five ATM cards.

25 Cambodians arrested after religious differences leads to fight at fishing port

Friday 4th January 2008
Pattaya City News (Thailand)

Police Senior Sergeant Major Ruaysub from Samaer San Police Sub-Station in Sattahip was called to a fight in progress at a local fishing port in the early hours of Friday Morning. The fight was between a group of Cambodian Buddhists and Muslims who have fought on a number of occasions due to their religious differences. This time, no one was seriously hurt and 25 Cambodians were arrested and charged with fighting in a public place.

Cambodian Muslims In Dire Need Of Copies Of The Quran

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- Cambodian Muslims are in dire need of copies of the Quran as they are hard to get in Cambodia and often stolen from mosques and suraus, said Cambodian mufti Kamaruddin Yusof.

This made preaching and protecting the sanctity of Islam difficult, he told reporters after calling on Deputy Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at his office here today.

Kamaruddin added that the Cambodian Islamic Supreme Council was also developing an Islamic education system to assist about 500,000 Muslims in the country to improve their standard of living.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also Dewan Amal Islam Hadhari (Damai) chairman, said he believed Malaysia could help meet the needs of Cambodian Muslims, who required at least 200,000 copies of the Quran.

Towards this end, Damai had so far collected RM200,000 through its Wakaf Al-Quran programme, which had received donations even from Singaporeans, he said, adding that the donation drive would be extended until two weeks after Aidilfitri.

The public wishing to donate can call Damai's secretariat at 03-26971868/67/69.

[US Marines] Unit builds bonds during civil assistance project

Lance Cpls. Bentley Martin and Derreck Moore, both combat engineers with Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, measure and cut boards Aug. 15 during an engineering civil assistance project at the Ma'Ahad El-Muhajirin Islamic Center in Cambodia's southern province of Kampot. The project is part of the Cambodia Interoperability Program, which is intended to build on the relationship between the U.S. and Cambodian governments and develop interoperability between U.S. forces and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. (Photo by Sgt. Ethan E. Rocke).

Sgt. Bradley Wood, a combat engineer, finds a curious bunch of boys anxious to help as he fills a generator with fuel at the Center. (Photo by Sgt. Ethan E. Rocke).

Unit builds bonds during civil assistance project

By Sgt. Ethan E. Rocke
US Marines in Japan

KAMPOT PROVINCE, Cambodia (August 24, 2007) -- In a modest, peaceful compound deep in the rural, southern farmlands of Cambodia's Kampot Province, August 15 was a day for smiles.

Residents of the Ma'Ahad El-Muhajirin Islamic Center had reason to smile as they warmly welcomed Marines and sailors from 1st Marine Aircraft Wing's Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, who came to complete several renovations during a two-week engineering civil assistance project.

The detachment of mostly Marine combat engineers also consists of medical and dental personnel who will provide medical care and preventive medicine training for residents during the project.

The engineers will make several infrastructure and cosmetic improvements at the center including rewiring and improving the electrical equipment that powers the center, installing ceilings in classrooms and ceiling fans in the center's mosque, and painting.

The center is an Islamic school for high school graduates from Cambodia's Cham, an ethnic group of Islamic people in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

The project is part of the Cambodia Interoperability Program, which is intended to build on the relationship between the U.S. and Cambodian governments and develop interoperability between U.S. forces and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

Nasiet Ly, an English teacher at the center, welcomed the American humanitarians during a small opening ceremony.

"We are very thankful for the help, and we hope to build on the warm relationship between the U.S. and Cambodian people," he said.

Gunnery Sgt. Kirk Taylor, staff noncommissioned officer in charge of the project, followed Ly's remarks, echoing his message of goodwill.

"We're excited to be here helping the Cambodian people," he said. "We hope the friendships we build here will last for generations to come."

The project marks the second time in two years that MWSS-172 has conducted a civil assistance project in Cambodia. In October 2005, the unit completed construction on the Kompong Chhnang Friendship Clinic, a medical clinic in Kompong Chhnang Province that is staffed by local medical personnel.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia relayed a message from Chargéd'Affaires Piper A.W. Campbell, praising the Okinawa service members for their role in enhancing the relationship between the two countries as well as the Muslim community.

"Providing assistance to Cambodia's Muslim population is an important part of the United States government's outreach efforts here, and we sincerely appreciate the significant contributions MWSS-172 has made to this ongoing commitment," Campbell said.

K Chhnang authority attempts to muzzle Cambodian Muslims from discussing land disputes in a public forum

CCHR public forum in Kompong Trolach district, Kompong Chhnang province (Photo: Sok Serei, RFA)

CCHR public forum in K Chhnang was threatened with shut down

24 July 2007
By Sok Serei
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

A public forum organized for the first time by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) to allow Cambodian Muslims living in Kompong Trolach district, Kompong Chhnang province, to express freely their opinions, on Tuesday, was threatened and forced to shut down when a group of Cambodian Muslims raised the issue of land disputes and they accused the authority of not resolving this problem. A representative of the authority accused that such issue is out of the topics with which CCHR requested the authority to organize this forum for.

Taing Saroeun, the deputy governor of the Kompong Trolach district, who participated in the forum, told RFA that he received a call from the district governor, and the Kompong Chhnang provincial governor telling him that if the opinions expressed are outside of the topics requested, the authority has the right to order the shutdown or cancel the forum immediately.

He said: “In their talk, they were not telling the truth on a large number of issues. I requested to CCHR that whatever they do, they have to say it clearly…”

In response to this threat, Ou Virak, CCHR President, said: “The population is being oppressed by the authority. Even CCHR is facing this problem like them, we are being oppressed, and we face a number of problems for the organization (of public forums) in Kompong Chhnang province.”

Ou Virak added that he will organize such forums in Muslim mosques in the future in order to avoid such discriminations in the future.

Chhim Savuth, the facilitator for the forum, sent a request to the local authority in Kompong Chhnang province to organize this forum, he was threatened and ordered to shut it down. Nevertheless, the forum was pursued until the end, at noon time on Tuesday.

This is the very first time that a public forum organized by CCHR behind a Muslim mosque in O’Roung village, Chhouk Sar commune, Kompong Trolach district, Kompong Chhnang province, was threatened in this manner. The forum was attended by about 50 Cambodian Muslims, young and old, men and women. The small forum was organized to inform people about land problems.

The main issue brought up during the forum discussion was focused on a land dispute on 24-hectare property involving about 23 families. The group of Cambodian Muslims who participated in the forum said that such forum is very useful to them.

Run Loh, a Cambodian Muslim from Chhouk Sar commune, said: “Since my great grandparents and grandparents time, Cambodian Muslims never have any rights, we have some rights but they are not full rights.”

Ou Virak publicly recognized that because of discriminations, CCHR has decided to organize forums allowing Cambodian Muslims to have the rights to express their opinions.

Thailand insurgency's victims: Cambodian Muslims who try to enter Thailand illegally

Thailand: Southern Militants Launch Propaganda Overseas

BANGKOK, June 16 (Bernama) -- Thailand's Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont on Saturday said that southern militants in addition to armed assaults in the predominantly Muslim south are now attempting to attack the Thai government politically both in Thailand and overseas.

Speaking during his weekly programme broadcast on state-run television, Gen. Surayud was quoted by TNA as saying that the government believed that the militants are now putting effort in drumming up their cause abroad while increasing the propaganda value and stress levels of their political offensive at home.

Touching on Cambodians holding Muslim faith who enter Thailand illegally and who might join Muslim insurgents in the deep South, Gen. Surayud said the government had coordinated with the Phnom Penh government in trying to prevent them from entering this country illegally.

However, the government tries to help workers from neighbouring countries-- including Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar -- come to Thailand legally to seek employment, especially in job categories which are shunned by Thais and not concerned with security affairs, he said.

Currently, the government has assigned the Internal Security Operations Command to be responsible in solving the violence problem in the restive South while it has asked the Fourth Army Region commander to work together with the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre in handling the operations, he said.

More than 2,300 people have been killed in the three restive southern provinces -- Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat -- since southern ethnic Malay militants renewed violence by raiding an army barracks in January 2004 and emptying its arsenal to arm insurgent fighters.

Remarks like salt in old wounds

Thu, June 14, 2007
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation (Thailand)

Comments on 'dangerous Cambodian Muslims' upset a sensitive neighbour

It is in the nature of Thai generals, notably those that have retired, to try to make themselves useful or significant, to try to say something out of nothing. Sometimes their empty speeches create complicated problems for the nation.

Retired general Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, a security adviser to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, is one Thai general who fits the type. He suggested that Cambodian Muslims were part of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which is supporting the insurgency in the deep South.

His statement prompted a strong reaction from Phnom Penh, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen lashing out at the allegation, saying it was unacceptable. Hun Sen reminded the Thais that all people in power are the same: they love to find somebody to blame when they cannot find ways to solve a problem.

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by Wattanachai's colleagues in the September coup, used to blame Malaysia for his failure to contain the violence. The general will remember when he was commander of the Third Army region, Thaksin shifted the blame to Burma for Thailand's failure to control narcotics along the border.

"Because of their own weakness, they are now finding others to blame," the Cambodian prime minister said in public on Monday. This was embarrassing for diplomat Surasak Suparat, the minister councillor at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, who was present when Hun Sen made the statement.

Hun Sen told Surasak to take note and convey the message to Bangkok, adding that he had reached the point when he could not tolerate such allegations anymore.

It was not the first time Gen Wattanachai has made the allegation, but this time Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong stressed to Surasak - who was summoned to the ministry - that the issue was serious. The Cambodian minister demanded that the Thai government provide sufficient evidence to support the allegation.

Instead of giving details to back his statement, Wattanachai - like a cheap politician - shifted the blame to the media, saying he had never made such a comment and his words might have been misinterpreted.

"No foreigners are involved in the situation in the deep South," he told reporters when asked to respond to Hun Sen's reaction.

It is not abnormal for Thai leaders to put their foot in their mouths when trying to get off the hook, but it is abnormal for a general to claim the media misquoted him on the same issue twice within a brief period of time.

In fact, Thai authorities have kept a suspicious eye on the movements of Cambodian Muslims for a long time. Thai Immigration officials were instructed to block, or at least obstruct, Cambodian Muslims at the Poi Pet checkpoint into Thailand. Belongings have been searched and items such as medicines confiscated. In one case, monosodium glutamate was seized. Thai officials believe the southern militants use MSG to heal wounds.

Cambodia is home to some 200,000 Muslims, mostly ethnic Cham in Kompong Cham province. The Cham adopted Islam when the Champa kingdom traded with seafaring Persian merchants around the ninth century. When Vietnam defeated the Champa kingdom in the 14th century, the Cham population fled to Cambodia and assimilated with ethnic Malays who had made earlier contact with the Khmer kingdom. The Cham have spoken a Malay dialect since then. Many of them study Islam in Pattani.

Cambodian Muslims are no strangers to the deep South, as thousands of them have worked in the Pattani fisheries, as well as studied Islam there. But Thai security officials have been paranoid about them since the eruption of violence in the South at the beginning of 2004.

The root of this Thai paranoia lies in a Cambodian raid on a Saudi-financed school on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in 2003. The school was deemed a security threat and Phnom Penh expelled 28 foreign religious teachers and arrested three other teachers including two Thai Muslims.

Muhammad Yalaluding and Abdul Azi Haji Chiming, both from Yala province, received life sentences in December 2004 after being found guilty of helping JI plot a terrorist attack in Cambodia. They were arrested in the raid in May 2003 along with Egyptian, Esam Mohammed Khidr Ali, who was acquitted of the same charge due to lack of evidence.

However, the Cambodian allegation was not convincing. The raid on the school was staged for the then US secretary of state, Colin Powell, who was in Phnom Penh for an Asean meeting. There was no evidence to prove that Cambodian Muslims were a threat to any country. There was no record of their involvement in any violence.

Wattanachai's allegation has already put Thailand at risk of dispute with Cambodia. Diplomatic fallout with Phnom Penh is no fun at all: a single intentional or unintentional insult could cause chaos. The 2003 anti-Thai riot in Phnom Penh was a good example of that - and the lessons from it haven't been learned.

Mounting fears of foreign influence in Thai insurgency

Masked Thai Muslims shout slogans during a protest rally

14 June 2007
AFP

BANGKOK : Attacks in Thailand's Muslim south are becoming deadlier and more sophisticated, fuelling fears that the insurgents have established links to international extremists, analysts say.

The shadowy insurgency along Thailand's southern border has escalated sharply in the eight months since the military seized power in a coup, with nine beheadings and 723 attacks just in the first three months of the year.

More than 2,200 people have been killed since the unrest erupted more than three years ago, but this year the attacks are becoming both more frequent and more brutal.

"There is concern that the increased brutality is being influenced from abroad," Zachary Abuza, associate professor for political science at Simmons College in Boston, told AFP.

Insurgent attacks this year "have been very provocative," with attacks on royal entourages, brutal machete slayings and increasingly, the mutilation of corpses, Abuza said.

A Buddhist man was abducted Tuesday and decapitated, his body dumped by a bridge and his head dropped about 300 metres (yards) away.

Two female teachers were shot dead Monday inside a primary school library in a brazen daylight attack.

Some 10 soldiers were killed in a powerful bomb attack and ambush on May 31, while five others were shot dead inside a mosque.

Although some government officials and experts still say the insurgency is entirely domestic, surging violence and new evidence have caused some to suggest possible foreign influence.

"A handful of militants could have improved their organisational abilities and sought better training either in their own territory or in the Philippines or Indonesia," said Arabinda Acharya, a researcher at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Just last month, army spokesman Colonel Akara Thiprote said that detained suspects had confessed under interrogation to receiving foreign training, particularly in beheadings.

"You really have to know particular bones in the neck to decapitate someone, and Thais don't know how to do this. You need a person who's been trained abroad or a foreign trainer to come here to teach the methods," he said.

The arrest of a former Indonesian separatist leader also rekindled fears that extremists from the nearby Muslim nation were training Thai insurgents.

General Watanachai Chaimuanwong, a senior security adviser to the Thai prime minister, has also pointed to links with extremists in Cambodia and Indonesia -- claims that Phnom Penh has flatly rejected.

The new concerns about foreign influence come as the government's peace initiatives in the region are floundering.

Since taking power, army-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has apologised for past excesses, offered to open talks with rebels and revived a key regional mediation body.

But the apology has produced little tangible goodwill.

Talks have failed to get off the ground because the government is still uncertain who is behind the violence.

Previous generations of separatist leaders appear to have little control over fighters on the ground, and officials have yet to identify the new leadership.

The mediation body's work has failed to get moving because the government can't recruit enough officials to staff the organization.

Despite its peace efforts, the government is still focusing too narrowly on law enforcement and not enough on addressing local political complaints, said Srisompob Jitpiromsri, a professor at Thailand's Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani.

Improving the justice system is among the top concerns among residents in the region, he added, since hardly any militants have been prosecuted over the violence while security forces have been granted immunity.

"Right now the government is only focused on going after militants, but they should focus more on local community issues like fairness and social justice to really win the hearts and minds of the people," Srisompob said.

15 Cambodians detained, one with bomb gear

Wednesday June 13, 2007
YUWADEE TUNYASIRI
Bangkok Post

Fifteen Cambodian Muslims allegedly bound for the deep South were detained at a checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province yesterday after one was found to have brought in gear that could be used to make bombs. A combined team of police, soldiers and customs officials searched a group of 15 Muslims from Cambodia and found a bag belonging to one of them containing two sets of electric circuit boards, one electric-relay system set, and five sets of wooden box parts.

Bomb experts were called in to perform checks on the devices which they said could be used to assemble home-made bombs.

Man Mat-aree, 29, the owner of the bag, claimed that the devices belonged to a Cambodian Muslim who asked him to bring the devices to another Muslim friend who lived along the Thai-Malaysian border.

He said he was told the devices would be used to make explosives for catching fish. The devices were later seized.

He and the 14 other Cambodians were interrogated before being sent back to their home country.

No charges were pressed against them as they all had the proper travel documents.

Meanwhile, Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong denied having linked some Cambodian Muslims entering the country to the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group.

Gen Wattanachai, the prime minister's adviser on security affairs, yesterday said he never gave a press interview linking Cambodian Muslims to the terrorist group as reported.

However, he admitted he had talked with some reporters about the southern problems but claimed he did not discuss any alleged involvement of some Cambodian Muslims in the JI network.

He asked the media to be careful in presenting news stories in ways that might affect bilateral cooperation between Thailand and its neighbours.

Earlier, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen angrily denied published comments attributed to Gen Wattanachai that some Cambodian Muslims were fanning the Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand.

Hun Sen accused Thailand of trying to blame its own problems on other countries.

On the influx of Cambodian workers into the country, Gen Wattanachai said many Cambodian immigrants have arrived in Thailand legally en route to seeking jobs in the South. However, there is no record of their departure from Thailand.

He also denied giving information that Her Majesty the Queen's planned trip to the deep South in October was aimed at helping Thai Buddhists living in the three southern provinces bordering Malaysia.

He said the Queen was kind to all Thais regardless of their religious beliefs and wanted peace to be restored in the region quickly.He also denied any knowledge of reports that some ustazes, or Islamic religious teachers, detained on suspicion of involvement in the southern violence, had failed to report to authorities after their temporary release.

He said southern insurgents had no ideology. They carried out violent attacks on orders from their leaders.

He conceded the southern situation has grown increasingly violent due to financial support from donors outside and inside the country.

SRP MP opposes Thailand accusations

11 June 2007
By Khim Sarang
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

One SRP MP supported the reaction of Prime Minister Hun Sen opposing the accusations made against Cambodian Muslims for their (alleged) involvements with JI terrorists in southern Thailand.

In a statement dated 11 June, MP Ahmed Yahya said that Cambodian Muslims are traveling across Thailand to look for work in Malaysia only. He said that the majority of them returned back to Cambodia by plane, whereas a number of others travel by land across Thailand without proper documents.

Recently, General Sothornchai, the commander of Thailand’s special border unit, reported that statistics of the Thai ministry of foreign affairs show that, since 2005, almost 20,000 Cambodian Muslims legally crossed the border into Thailand at Sakeo border gate, and they continued on to southern Thailand. Among those, only 10% returned back to Cambodia.

Wattanachai changes his tune one more time: denies he linked Khmer Muslims to insurgency in the south

June 12, 2007
Gen Wattanachai denies he linked Khmer Muslims to insurgency in the south

The Nation (Thailand)

PM's security affairs advisor Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong denied saying that some Cambodian Muslims were involving in the insurgency in the deep south of Thailand.

He insisted that no foreign network or persons involved in the violence in the southern provinces of Thailand.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday issued an angry denial that Cambodian Muslims involved in the insurgency in the south.

"Because of their own weakness, they are now finding others to blame,'' he said at a groundbreaking ceremony for a bridge over the Tonle Sap river.

Some news reports said retired Gen Wattanachai said some Khmer Muslims were part of terror network that actively worked in the south.

Wattanachai on Tuesday said that he never said so.

"What I said is that there are a large number of Cambodian Muslims entering Thailand but they disappeared. We have to find out where they are," he said.

He said he issued a clarification on the matter and asked Thai Foreign Ministry to send it to the Cambodian side.

Shortly after Hun Sen's speech Monday, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong summoned Thai Ambassador to Cambodia Surasak Suparat, the Thai Embassy official, to formally convey the Cambodian government's reaction to the Thai government.

Transcript of Hun Sen's speech regarding Thailand's accusation of JI link

Translated from Khmer and posted online

On 11 June, Cambodian Government-run Phnom Penh Television Kampuchea in Cambodian at 0542 GMT carried a 90-minute recorded report, following its midday newscast, on Prime Minister Hun Sen presiding over a ceremony to open a site for the construction of the 975-meter Prek Kdam bridge, with loan from the Chinese Government, on the morning of 11 June. The Chinese Ambassador was also present at the event.

In his 80-minute speech, commenting on "accusations made by a Thai army general against the Cambodian Muslims," Hun Sen said, "Today, as Cambodia's prime minister, I wish to comment on some irresponsible remarks made by the Thai military spokesman. And I hope that the Thai Prime Minister, His Excellency Surayud [Chulanont], would correct the spokesman, because it is too severe for the Cambodian Muslim compatriots, who are accused of being the base for the JI [Jemaah Islamiyah] terrorists in Asia and traveling to the upper part of Thailand to join the separatist movement in the southern region of Thailand."

Hun Sen then recalled the "grenade explosions in Bangkok" on 31 December last year, and he said he thought that it was "because of the incompetence of the Thai security [forces], then blame was laid on Cambodia instead. Should it be a shame that the Thai authorities, with enormous military and police forces, allowed grenades to be shipped hundreds of kilometers from Cambodia to Bangkok? I think that they should not comment on such a story, because they debased their competent authorities outright and paint colors on other people. They were so weak. For instance, if the bombs were really taken from Cambodia, the Thai competent authorities were too weak, allowing the grenades to be shipped hundreds of kilometers from Cambodia to Thailand, to Bangkok. As such, the military and police authorities of Thailand are so incompetent." "And then a few months later," Hun Sen added, "they said they did not have concrete evidence. If you did not have evidence, why did you claim that the grenades were sent from Cambodia?"

On the accusations against Cambodian Muslims, Hun Sen said they had long existed, but he had "not thought that Cambodia was even accused of being a training base for the JI group." He added he felt hurt with the "blame laid on the Cambodian Muslim compatriots, who want just to live in peace and enjoy benefits like the other people." Now they were "accused being terrorists. It is too severe. It is very severe."

Hun Sen also recalled that last year, he told a Thai military general of the Thaksin government directly that the "Muslim compatriots in Cambodia were not that stupid to the point that they went and served as mercenaries for the separatist in south Thailand. I wish to ask: only confronting with the Thai Muslim compatriots is still not enough for the Thai Government. Why does it also need to confront with the Muslims in Cambodia at present?"

Hun Sen said, "Today, I wish to clearly spell out our positions."

1. Cambodia "respects Thailand's independence and sovereignty. In the past, Thailand had its own problems that were its internal affairs. The [words indistinct] and the coup d'etat in Bangkok were all of the internal aspects."

Elaborating on the position, Hun Sen said he had told Thai Prime Minister Surayud during his recent visit to Cambodia after the military coup that Thailand's decisions were its own affairs. And recently, he added, the Thai "Constitutional Court dissolved the Thai Rak Thai Party led by Thaksin and imposed a ban on politicians, Cambodia did comment that it was a violation of democratic rights or something."

2. Cambodia wishes to "appeal to the Thai Government or to the Thai military leadership not to internationalize Thailand's internal affairs through painting colors on other people, including Cambodia. They are asked not to internationalize its internal affairs."

3. If they have something that needs to be resolved, Cambodia is "already prepared to negotiate at all levels, including the prime ministerial level, the foreign ministerial level, the defense ministerial level, or the interior ministerial level and to hold constructive talks to look for preventive measures. I wish to make it clear that in Cambodia, if there certainly have been JI terrorists, they would not have been allowed to go to Thailand, Cambodia would have routed them in the country outright. It is because the question regarding terrorists is not a separate issue of Thailand, but a problem of Cambodia too." Hun Sen warned against the Thai army general "using such language on the pages of newspapers."

Hun Sen asked all the Muslim people in Cambodia "not to worry," and he said, "The Royal Government will always be with you." [applause] "Any unjust accusations are unacceptable." He added that he, as the head of the Royal Government of Cambodia [RGC], wished to "appeal to the Thai side to calm down and understand that Cambodia is not a safe haven for anybody to attack Thailand." He also said, "If there certainly be JI terrorists in Cambodia, they did not need to go to Bangkok, they would be attacked here outright." "They [Thais] were weak," he remarked, "but they put the blame on other people."

Hun Sen said, "I hope that Bangkok would understand this situation" and that if need be, Cambodia could also "contribute to the process of seeking peace for Thailand." "If division had gone up to that level," he added, "Cambodia can also be the meeting venues for solving Thailand's problems." He also said there was "no problem between Cambodia and Thailand. Talks can be held everywhere" and that the two countries could "cooperate to fight terrorists both in Thailand and Cambodia. Anywhere, terrorism is not a separate issue of anyone. It is a common issue of everybody." He further said that Cambodia, albeit poor, were not "willing to serve as mercenaries in Thailand" and that Cambodia "only sent troops to Sudan" under the UN supervision and that it would "not allow anybody [in Cambodia] to send forces to serve as troops in foreign countries."

Hun Sen then asked the Muslim people in Cambodia "not to be afraid that the government suspected them of anything," and he again called on Thailand "not to internationalize its internal problems, linking them to the Muslim compatriots here," which was "not the RGC's political line."

Hun Sen said the remarks by the Thai army general had affected the "two countries' good relations" and that what was worst was that Cambodia was accused of being a "safe haven for terrorists and fraught with JI elements." However, he added, the remarks were "not from Prime Minister Surayud, but from the spokesman. And I hope that Prime Minister Surayud would instruct the spokesman to rectify his comments."

Before concluding comments on the remarks by the Thai army general, Hun Sen repeated that he "hoped Thailand would not internationalize its internal affairs, linking them to the Muslims in Cambodia" and that if need be, "Cambodia would host talks" in either Kaoh Kong, Phnom Penh, or Siemreab. Hun Sen emphatically said, "I firmly believe that Thailand is intelligent enough to solve its internal problems in which Cambodia has never interfered, but it is asked not to implicate Cambodia through making unfounded and baseless accusations. I appeal to all our people to continue strengthening solidarity with Thailand. The problem concerns only the Thai spokesman. It is not a conflict between Cambodia and Thailand. It is only with the spokesman."

Hor Namhong summons Thai diplomats over JI link accusation

11/06/2007
Cambodia's FM denies Thai claims of links to terrorism

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Cambodia's foreign minister has summoned Thai diplomats asking them to reject claims by a Thai general that Cambodian Muslims have links to the regional extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong says it is an accusation the Cambodian government cannot accept.

He says there is no JI group in Cambodia and that Cambodian muslims support the government.

A senior security adviser to the Thai prime minister says a group of Cambodian muslims with links to JI are in the country.

He accuses them of plotting to stage attacks in support of an Islamic separatist insurgency in southern Thailand.

Cambodia to call in Thai ambassador over terrorism allegations

Monday, June 11, 2007

"The Thai military and police are weak" - Hun Sen's biting remark from the safety of Phnom Penh. Thai army crosses the white border zone with impunity, and no Hun Sen army was ever able to stop them.

Phnom Penh (dpa) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday angrily dismissed reported comments by a top Thai aide that Cambodian Muslims had been involved in terrorist activities, ordering his Foreign Ministry to carpet the Thai ambassador over the claims.

In a speech broadcast on national media, Hun Sen assured Cambodia's minority ethnic Muslim population that the government would stand firmly behind it and dismissed the claims as having no basis in fact.

His retort followed a report Saturday in the Bangkok Post quoting General Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, a close aide to Thai Prime Minister Surayad Chulanont, as saying the Cambodian Muslims had infiltrated Thailand's restive south and were involved in terrorist activities there.

The report quoted the general as linking some Cambodian Muslims to the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terrorist group. The story was widely picked up by Cambodian media.

"Please do not make your [Thai] internal problems international ones by painting this colour on Cambodian Muslims," Hun Sen said at a groundbreaking ceremony just outside the capital.

He demanded that Surayad correct his aide's allegation and said he had ordered the Cambodian Foreign Ministry to summon the Thai ambassador to explain the matter.

"The Thai military and police are weak," Hun Sen charged. "I am disappointed on behalf of Cambodia when they mistakenly accuse Cambodian Muslims of this. They are good people. Cambodian Muslims are not stupid like this to work as soldiers."

During the speech, Hun Sen pondered aloud whether Thailand "did not think it had enough trouble with its own Muslims" and perhaps wanted to add to its problems by insulting more Muslims in the region.

"All Cambodian Muslims, do not worry," he said. "The government will stay with you on behalf of all your compatriots, even though you are a different religion."

He said the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok would also request the Thai government provide evidence for the allegations and pledged to cooperate with the Thai government at all levels if it could prove there was a basis for the claims.

Wattanachai has previously made the same allegations, but backed down on similar claims last month. Thai authorities were also reported as claiming that deadly New Year's bomb attacks in Bangkok had been fuelled by materials provided from Cambodia, but those claims, too, were never proven.

Cambodia, like neighbouring Thailand, is a majority Buddhist country, with far less than 5 per cent of its population identifying itself as ethnic Cambodian Cham Muslims.

Although there have been allegations of infiltration of some Cham communities by more radical Islamic elements from overseas in the past, at present the Cham live peacefully within the Cambodian community.

Share With Us Info On Southern Terrorists, Indonesia Tells Thais

"Even though I do not know where they are, I can say Cambodians with alleged JI (Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group) links are now in the southern part of Thailand" - Watanachai Chaimuanwong, advisor to Thailand's Prime Minister

BANGKOK, June 11 (Bernama) -- Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr Hassan Wirajuda said his country is looking forward to share information and intelligence with Thailand on the alleged involvement of its citizen in the Southern Thai insurgency.

He said both countries were working closely on counter-terrorism and law enforcement aspects, adding that a high level committee met in Chiang Mai recently to increase cooperation in defence and security.

"This is part of the ongoing cooperation...exchanging of information and intelligence is among the important elements. We welcome information that Thailand want to share with us," he said after the Sixth Joint Commission meeting between Thailand and Indonesia, here Monday.

Thailand was represented by its Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram.

Dr Hassan said this when asked to comment on a statement made by an advisor to the Thai Prime Minister, Watanachai Chaimuanwong that extremists from Indonesia and Cambodia were training insurgents in the Muslim-majority southern provinces where more than 2,300 people have died in the unrest since January 2004.

Citing intelligence reports, Wattanachai had also claimed that Cambodian Muslims entered the country legally enroute to finding work in Malaysia but there was no record of them leaving the Kingdom.

"Even though I do not know where they are, I can say Cambodians with alleged JI (Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group) links are now in the southern part of Thailand," Bangkok Post had quoted Watanachai as saying.

Dr Hassan said Indonesia, with the region's biggest Muslim population, would continue to work with Thai authorities in finding peaceful solution to the southern conflict.

The Thai Army had also said recently that they suspected Indonesian terrrorists of training southern militants in view of the increase in the number of beheadings of Buddhists.

On bilaterial ties between the two countries, he said trade between them had risen from US$5.6 billion in 2005 to US$6.7 billion last year, which exceeded the level of intra-Asean trade by about 14 percent.

He said both countries also agreed to carry out joint initiatives to promote cooperation in the fields of agriculture, science and technology, environment, education, transportation, energy and mining.