Hun Sen cautions on explosives used at the newly opened cement factory - 1997 Explosions still bring bad memories to Hun Sen?

Hun Sen Urges Caution on Explosives

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 January 2008

Prime Minister Hun Sen warned on Monday that terrorists could find their way to explosives from a newly opened cement factory if vigilance lapses.

Speaking at the opening of the $90-million factory in Kampot province, Hun Sen said terrorists needed explosives like those housed at the factory.

“The control of explosives must be carried out neatly, according to regulations,” he said.

His comments follow statements made by Cambodia’s national police chief that counterterrorism work with the FBI has been productive.

Cambodia has in recent years become a willing partner to the US in its counterterrorism efforts.

There are no known terrorist threats in Cambodia, although in 2003 it was discovered that a senior leader of the Islamic fundamentalist group Jemaah Islamiya had taken refuge in Cambodia before traveling to Thailand.

Men Charged With Terrorism In Failed Bomb Plot

2007-08-02
By SOPHENG CHEANG
AP

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: A Cambodian court charged two men with terrorism Wednesday (August 1st) in connection with a recently failed plot to blow up a monument in the heart of the country's capital, officials said.

Sok Roeun, a prosecutor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said he charged Kem Toeun, 53, and Son Than, 42, with terrorism, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Police arrested the two men Monday (July 30th), a day after explosives disposal experts defused bombs planted at the city's Cambodia-Vietnam friendship monument, said police Maj. Gen. Chhay Sinarith, who is chief of the Interior Ministry's information department.

"Their main purpose was to destroy the monument because it is a symbol of good relations between the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments," Chhay Sinarith said, adding police were looking for more plotters.

The three homemade bombs found Sunday (July 29th) _ made of a mixture of TNT and fertilizer packed in three buckets _ were planted at a monument dedicated to Vietnamese soldiers who invaded Cambodia to topple the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

The monument is located in a park about 500 meters (yards) from the southern wall of the Royal Palace, where King Norodom Sihamoni and his parents live.

The monument was erected by a pro-Vietnamese Cambodian government nearly 20 years ago.

Both arrested men are members of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Liberation Front, said Chhay Sinarith. He said the group is based outside Cambodia and advocates taking back territory in southern Vietnam that used to belong to Cambodia.

Many Cambodians resent neighboring Vietnam, which is a traditional enemy that they feel has designs on their country's land. But government-to-government relations are good _ Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was originally part of a puppet regime installed by Hanoi after the Vietnamese invasion.

Hun Sen's political opponents view the monument as a symbol of a humiliating decade-long occupation by Vietnamese troops following their invasion.

Protesters partially destroyed it during an anti-government demonstration in 1998.

The monument was later restored, and visiting Vietnamese leaders often go there to pay respects to their fallen soldiers.

VN embassy congratulates its Phnom Penh hunting dogs for the swift arrest of suspects in the bombing attempt on the Eyesore Monument

Vietnamese embassy congratulates the Cambodian authority’s work

01 August 2007
By Sary Roat
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Trinh Ba Kim, spokesman of the Vietnamese embassy in Cambodia, immediately congratulated the swift success of the Cambodian authority which took only 2-day to arrest 2 suspects in the attempt to bomb the Cambodian-Vietnamese memorial monument.

Trinh Ba Kim said: “This is an effort of the Cambodian police force to search for the suspects.”

RFA’s Sok Serei reported yesterday that the two arrested are: Son Than also known as Kim Sophat, a 40-year-old Cambodian man from Kampuchea Krom, and Kim Toeun, a 53-year-old former Khmer Rouge soldier. The two were accused by the authority of belonging to the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Liberation Front led by Thach Sang.

Nevertheless, Admiral Thach Sang, the (former) commander of the Cambodian Navy, and former Funcinpec MP, rejected his involvement in this activity.

Thach Sang said: “I am totally rejecting all these accusations because I resigned from the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Liberation Front (KKLF) since 20 March 2003 because my child had cancer and needed to stay at the hospital. Therefore, I was very busy and I decided to resign from the presidency of the KKLF. Since then, I was never involved in any activity related to Khmer Kampuchea Krom movements at all, I am living as a refugee in the USA only.”

Admiral Thach Sang called on the Cambodian government to review its accusation because it creates fear among all Khmer Krom people who are already suffering from oppression.

Thach Sang said: “I am asking the royal government of Cambodia to please investigate again. Please do not accuse without any basis. As a government which serves the interest of Khmer people, please do not oppress your own Khmer people. Khmer Krom brothers and sisters always have hope that the royal government of Cambodia is their second refuge, their second birthplace. When Cambodia suffers, Khmer Krom people also suffer, when Cambodia has peace, Khmer Krom people also have peace. Therefore, as a Khmer Krom person, I am always grateful to the people in the Kingdom of Cambodia.”

Cambodian men charged with terrorism in failed bomb plot

Wednesday, August 1, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A Cambodian court charged two men with terrorism Wednesday in connection with a recently failed plot to blow up a monument in the heart of the country's capital, officials said.

Sok Roeun, a prosecutor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said he charged Kem Toeun, 53, and Son Than, 42, with terrorism, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Police arrested the two men Monday, a day after explosives disposal experts defused bombs planted at the city's Cambodia-Vietnam friendship monument, said police Maj. Gen. Chhay Sinarith, who is chief of the Interior Ministry's information department.

"Their main purpose was to destroy the monument because it is a symbol of good relations between the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments," Chhay Sinarith said, adding police were looking for more plotters.

The three homemade bombs found Sunday — made of a mixture of TNT and fertilizer packed in three buckets — were planted at a monument dedicated to Vietnamese soldiers who invaded Cambodia to topple the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

The monument is located in a park about 500 meters (yards) from the southern wall of the Royal Palace, where King Norodom Sihamoni and his parents live.

The monument was erected by a pro-Vietnamese Cambodian government nearly 20 years ago.

Both arrested men are members of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Liberation Front, said Chhay Sinarith. He said the group is based outside Cambodia and advocates taking back territory in southern Vietnam that used to belong to Cambodia.

Many Cambodians resent neighboring Vietnam, which is a traditional enemy that they feel has designs on their country's land. But government-to-government relations are good — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was originally part of a puppet regime installed by Hanoi after the Vietnamese invasion.

Hun Sen's political opponents view the monument as a symbol of a humiliating decade-long occupation by Vietnamese troops following their invasion.

Protesters partially destroyed it during an anti-government demonstration in 1998.

The monument was later restored, and visiting Vietnamese leaders often go there to pay respects to their fallen soldiers.

Welcome to Cambodia, the only country in the world with "moto doop" and "construction worker" terrorists ... and a former terrorist KRouge as PM

August 01, 2007
Monument explosion suspects labeled as terrorists

Two caught suspects have confessed over trying to explode the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument by planting three homemade bombs nearby and were labeled as terrorists, police source said on Tuesday in Phnom Penh.

The suspects were identified as Kim Soeun, 53, construction worker living in Phnom Penh who used to be a Democratic Kampuchea (DK) soldier and member of the Khmer Krom Liberation Front (KKLF), and Chhim Sophan, 52, also member of KKLF, according to Chhay Sinarith, information department official at the Interior Ministry.

Their act aimed at ruining the Cambodian-Vietnamese relations, Chhay said, adding that the attempted explosion also threatened the stability of the Cambodian society.

The suspects had prepared their plans to destroy two locations in Phnom Penh, with the other place in the Taupi area (KI-Media note: Two lions area), and their master and financial supporter lived in the United States, the official quoted their confessions as saying.

"Their acts are terrorism" and "we will sent them to court tomorrow," he added.

The three poor-quality bombs were laid late Saturday at the foot of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument. One exploded at around 05:15 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, though no one was injured and the statue not damaged. Bomb disposal experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Center later disabled the two remaining devices.

Source: Xinhua

As expected, police blame and arrest Khmer Krom people for the bombing of the Phnom Penh Eyesore Friensdhip Monument

July 31, 2007
Cambodian police catch 2, hunt for 3 suspects of failed monument explosions

Cambodian police have caught two suspects and were still hunting for three others for Sunday's failed explosions at the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument, police source said on Tuesday.

The arrested ones, all Kampuchea Kroms, planted three homemade bombs at the base of the monument in Phnom Penh on Saturday night in order to destroy the building, the source said on condition of anonymity.

They would be sent to court for trials soon, the source added.

The three poor-quality bombs were laid late Saturday at the foot of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument. One exploded at around 05:15 a.m. on Sunday morning, though no one was injured and the statue not damaged. Bomb disposal experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Center later disabled the two remaining devices.

Kampuchea Kroms are those living on the border land that originally belonged to Cambodia but later was claimed by Vietnam.

They used to stage protests in Cambodia, asking for various rights and statues.

Source: Xinhua

2 Members of the alleged "Kampuchea Krom Front" arrested for bombing the Eyesore Friendship Monument

Tuesday July 31, 2007
Cambodian authorities arrest 2 suspected of planting homemade bombs

(Kyodo) - Cambodian authorities have arrested two people suspected of planting homemade bombs in the Cambodian capital and hope three more suspects will be arrested soon, a senior police official told Kyodo News on Tuesday.

"Two suspects were arrested yesterday, and now we are filing the case to the court," Chhay Sinarith, director of the Police General Information Department, said.

He said the suspects, identified as Son Than, 42, a motorcycle taxi driver, and Kim Toeun, 52, a construction worker, claim to belong to the Kampuchea Krom Front, which they say wants to "liberate Kampuchea Krom from Vietnam."

Kampuchea Krom, once one part of Cambodia, was ceded to Vietnam in 1949 and since then organizations and communities based there and abroad have accused Vietnam of mistreating Khmers in the region.

The Kampuchea Krom Front is, however, "small and is not harmful to the country and the people of Cambodia," Chhay Sinarith said. "They were intending to destroy the Statue of Friendship between Cambodia and Vietnam."

One of three homemade bombs packed with TNT in buckets exploded at the statue at about 5:20 a.m. Sunday, slightly damaging it.

Two other bombs were defused.

The statue, built in 1989, is several hundred meters away from Cambodia's Royal Palace.

After the 1998 general election, opposition protesters who accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of being too close to Vietnam attacked the statue with axes and gasoline, destroying part of it.

It was later restored.

Cambodian police was given a "light" to find the bombing prepetrators of the Eyesore Monument in PPenh -Thank you for the "light" Uncle Ho!

July 31, 2007
Cambodian police confident in bomb investigation

Police officials investigating the source of three homemade bombs planted before a monument here are confident in the investigation's progress so far, local media said on Tuesday.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Sok Phal told Cambodian-language newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey that he has plenty of witnesses and enough evidence to find the perpetrators.

Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that authorities have a number of leads to investigate and that the investigation is progressing well.

"We have already traced the activities and a light has been given to us," he was quoted by English-language newspaper the Cambodia Daily as saying.

The three bombs were laid late Saturday at the foot of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship monument. One exploded at around 05:15 am on Sunday morning, though no one was injured and the statue not damaged. Bomb disposal experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Centre later disabled the two remaining devices.

Source: Xinhua

Additional photos from the Phnom Penh Monument of Disgrace

Cambodian landmine and explosive experts examine bombs in black plastic bags as they prepare to defuse them at the Cambodia-Vietnam friendship monument in Phnom Penh July 29, 2007. A bomb exploded at the monument in Phnom Penh on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of a public park where two other devices were found and defused, police said. The 10-kg bomb detonated around dawn, causing no injuries and little damage to the stone statue erected after Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Smoke rises from an explosion after Cambodian landmine and explosive experts defused a bomb at the Cambodia-Vietnam friendship monument in Phnom Penh July 29, 2007. A bomb exploded at the monument in Phnom Penh on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of a public park where two other devices were found and defused, police said. The 10-kg bomb detonated around dawn, causing no injuries and little damage to the stone statue erected after Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Explosives experts defuse bombs in Cambodian capital

Sunday, July 29, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Explosives experts prevented homemade bombs from going off on Sunday at a controversial monument in the heart of the Cambodian capital, officials said.

The bombs, a mixture of TNT and fertilizer packed in three buckets, were planted at a monument dedicated to Vietnamese soldiers who invaded Cambodia to topple the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

The monument is located in a park about 500 meters (yards) from the southern wall of the Royal Palace, where King Norodom Sihamoni and his parents live.

"If we had not succeeded in destroying the bombs, that monument would have collapsed," Hok Lundy, Cambodia's national police chief, told reporters.

The monument was erected by a communist Cambodian government nearly 20 years ago.

Political opponents of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was also prime minister of the Vietnamese-installed government, view the monument as a symbol of a decade-long occupation of Cambodia by Vietnamese troops following the invasion.

Suon Rindy, deputy cabinet chief of the Phnom Penh Municipality, called the failed bomb attack an "act of sabotage that was aimed at stirring up the political climate" in Cambodia.

He declined to speculate on the motives behind the act, citing an ongoing investigation.

Protesters partially destroyed it during a postelection protest in 1998.

The monument was restored later, and Vietnamese leaders often go to pay respects to their fallen soldiers during visits to Cambodia.

"Since the bombs were planted at the monument, they were clearly intended to destroy it. If the plotters just wanted to create some noise, they would not have had to place the bombs here," said Touch Naroth, the capital's police chief.

He said police flocked to the site after the fuse of one of the bombs exploded at around 5:30 a.m. (0030 GMT), but it failed to set off the full blast.

Mine-clearers used ropes to tie up the explosives and dragged them off the middle platform of the monument to the ground. The fuse for the second bomb went off but caused no damage or injury.

They later set up a sandbagged bunker to detonate the third and last bomb.

Bomb hits Cambodia-Vietnam statue in Phnom Penh

Smoke rises from an explosion after Cambodian landmine and explosive experts defused a bomb at a Cambodia-Vietnam friendship monument in Phnom Penh July 29, 2007. A bomb exploded at the monument in Phnom Penh on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of a public park where two other devices were found and defused, police said. The 10-kg bomb detonated around dawn, causing no injuries and little damage to the stone statue erected after Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Sunday, July 29, 2007

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A bomb exploded at a Cambodia-Vietnam friendship monument in Phnom Penh on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of a public park where two other devices were found and defused, police said.

The 10-kg bomb detonated around dawn, causing no injuries and little damage to the stone statue erected after Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

"This site represents the friendship of Cambodia and Vietnam. This plot was meant to destroy that relationship," Phnom Penh police chief Touch Naroth told Reuters at the scene.

He said police had no suspects.

The statue, which portrays a Cambodian soldier and a Vietnamese comrade standing protectively over a Cambodian woman and her baby, is in a park near Prime Minister Hun Sen's residence.

Hun Sen and other top members of his Cambodian People's Party (CPP) were with Vietnam's army of invasion and were installed and supported as rulers of Cambodia during Vietnam's decade-long occupation.

In 1998, opposition protesters, who have accused Hun Sen of having too close a relationship with Hanoi, attacked the statue with hammers and set it alight with petrol.

The incident drew a formal protest from Vietnam.