Cambodia agrees to return bomb plotters to Thailand

By Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH, June 12 (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed on Friday to allow two Thai Muslims convicted of plotting attacks on Western embassies in Phnom Penh in 2004 to serve the rest of their prison terms in Thailand.

The deal was agreed during a meeting on Friday between Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told Reuters.

The two Thais and a Cambodian, who were linked to the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), were given life sentences by a Cambodian court in December 2004 for plotting to bomb the U.S. and British embassies in Phnom Penh.

Chiming Abdul Azi, Muhammadyalludin Mading and Cambodian Sman Esma El were found guilty of colluding to attack the missions along with Hambali, the suspected JI mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Hambali remains in U.S. detention since being handed over by Thailand after his capture in the central city of Ayutthaya in 2003.

Kanharith said several Cambodians serving prison sentences in Thailand would be returned as part of the deal.

"Hun Sen told his Thai counterpart that he would send the two convicted Thais to serve their punishment in Thailand and vice-versa," he said.

Kanharith said the transfers could take some time because Thailand and Cambodia have no extradition agreement.

The two leaders also pledged to settle a long-running dispute over the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which has been a source of tension between the two countries for generations.

Two Thai soldiers were killed and nine wounded in April in a clash with Cambodian troops near the temple, which the International Court of Justice awarded to Cambodia in 1962, without ruling on the ownership of the disputed land around it.

"They gave assurances that armed conflicts would not take place at the border near the temple," Ieng Sophalleth, a Cambodian government spokesman, told reporters.

Hun Sen and Abhisit also said they would work to settle a maritime dispute over a potentially oil and gas-rich patch of the Gulf of Thailand, which both countries have claimed jurisdiction over, Sophalleth said. (Editing by Martin Petty and Jeremy Laurence)

Anti-Terrorism Efforts Lauded by US [-The US lauds a regime that uses terror against its own people?]

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
01 May 2009

Cambodia had shown a commitment in fighting terrorism, but the country’s capacities need more improvement, according to an annual US State Department report.

The US cited the establishment of a national counterterrorism center in 2005, new laws to combat terror financing and the strict control of weapons, explosives and other materials in Cambodia as proof the government was serious in countering terrorism.

The new financing law establishes a financial intelligence unit under the National Bank, to monitor suspicious transactions and interface with the Ministry of Interior’s financial crimes unit. The law also provides for asset freezes of suspected terrorists.

“Cambodia’s political leadership demonstrated a strong commitment to aggressive legal action against terrorists and to increase its counterterrorism investigative capability, but its ability to investigate potential terrorist activities was limited by a lack of training and resources,” according to the report, obtained by VOA Khmer Thursday.

Cambodia remains a concern, however, with its porous borders, endemic corruption, poverty, high unemployment and poor education system.

Cambodia also has around 500,000 Cham Muslims, where “disaffected elements” could be exploited by terrorists, according to the report.

“Although the Cham were not generally politically active, the Cambodian government was aware of the possibility that foreign terrorists might use Cham areas as safe havens,” it said. “For example, Hambali, a senior Jemaah Islamiya and al-Qaida operative accused of involvement in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, took refuge in a Muslim school in Cambodia in 2002-2003.”

Terror Group Suspects Head to Supreme Court

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
22 February 2008

Three men allegedly linked to the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah will appeal life sentences in Cambodian Supreme Court next week, officials said.

The three suspects, Abdul Azi Jaiji Chiming and Muhammad Yalaludin Mading, both from Thailand, and Cambodian Muslim Sman Esma El, were sentenced to life in prison for commission of acts of international terrorism and attempted murder in 2003.

Rights groups have said the men were sentenced following hasty court proceedings.

Kao Sopha, defense lawyer for the three men, said Friday he expected an overturned verdict when his appeal is heard by the Supreme Court Feb. 27.

"The Supreme Court has no proof to charge my clients," he said.

Jemaah Islamiyah was responsible for the Bali bombings in October 2002. The group's leader, Hambali, was arrested by Thai authorities in February 2004, after he reportedly stayed six months in Cambodia.

Cambodia says it is terror free

Thu, 02/14/2008

Phnom Penh (Xinhua) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has said the country is free of terrorism and must stay this way if the tourism industry is to continue growing, the Cambodian Daily reported Thursday.

Hun Sen made these remarks at the opening of the four-day Asean (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) anti-terrorism conference Wednesday in Siem Reap.

"If Cambodia is a target of a terrorist attack like what the Hambali group was trying to stage in 2002, the prosperity and development that we have achieved would definitely be destroyed," he told the US and Asean delegates at the conference. Countries must join hands to combat this threat, he added.

Cambodia was selected to host the conference as it had successfully helped the Thai and US authorities arrest Riduan Isamuddin, an Indonesian citizen and operations chief for the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Jemaah Islamiyah was responsible for carrying out the 2002 Bali bombings and the 2003 Marriot Hotel bomb attack in Jakarta.