Cambodia, Thailand to Peaceful Solve Border Issue: U.S. Official

2010-02-10
Xinhua

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of States Scot Marciel said on Tuesday that Washington wanted to see Phnom Penh and Bangkok to solve their border disputes through peaceful talks for the benefits of the two nations.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing, Scot Marciel said " we are good friends with Cambodia and Thailand. And likes most other countries are concerned the tension between the two countries, we have said and hoped that both governments and leaders will do what they can to try to reduce tension and then to work trying to find a peaceful and rapid solution to these problems."

War of words between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai' s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has escalated since last week over Hun Sen's first tour of the Khmer 11th built Temple of Preah Vihear and Cambodian military forces who beefed up security near the Thai's border.

Relations between the two countries turned rocky in November after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appointed ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives abroad to escape a jail term for corruption, as economic advisor of him and his government. Both nations have recalled their ambassadors since.

Cambodia said that the Thais claimed the land of 4.6 square km near the Temple is baseless given the U.N. court of International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1962 ruled out that the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia.

Scot Marciel arrived in the Kingdom on Feb. 8. He held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.

The visit is aimed at strengthening the relationship between Washington and Phnom Penh, said an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

US allows Cambodia to reschedule $317 mln debt

PHNOM PENH, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The United States has refused a request by Cambodia to write off $317 million in debt, but has instead agreed to reschedule the impoverished country's loan repayments, a top U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The United States also declined to convert the debt into development aid but would work out a plan for Cambodia to pay back the loans, which date back to the 1970s, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel said.

"The U.S. position is that Cambodia has recognised its debt," Marciel told reporters during a visit to Phnom Penh. "We think Cambodia should begin the payment, which the Cambodian government has not been willing to do."

The loans were given to the government of Lon Nol after it came to power in a 1970 coup backed by the United States. The loans were intended to develop the country's agriculture sector and boost commodities exports.

Lon Nol was toppled five years later when the ultra Maoist Khmer Rouge staged its "killing fields" 1975-1979 revolution, which left an estimated 1.7 million people dead and plunged Cambodia into decades of dire poverty and political instability.

The two countries have long disagreed about repayment of the debt and Cambodia has argued the money was spent on arms which were ultimately used on its own people.

China in 2002 cancelled Cambodia's debt from the 1970s, which was estimated by embassy officials to be worth between $60 million and $1 billion.

Marciel, Washington's top official in charge of Southeast Asian affairs, plans to plans to visit Laos and Thailand in the next week.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

Cambodia asks US to cancel $339 million in debt from 1970s

February 9, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia asked the United States on Tuesday to cancel $339 million in debt that dates back to loans from the 1970s — or consider converting most of it into development aid for the impoverished country.

The proposal, which came during a visit by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel, was the latest in a long-running exchange about how to handle the debt and what the money was used for 40 years ago.

"Cambodia has asked the United States government to cancel the debt but if it cannot do that, at least turn 70 percent of the debt into aid for the social development of the country," Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith said after a meeting with Marciel. He said if the latter option were accepted, Cambodia would discuss repayment plans for the remaining 30 percent.

Marciel, who is the U.S. ambassador to ASEAN, was expected to brief reporters later in the day.

The U.S. provided low-interest loans to Cambodia during the regime of Gen. Lon Nol in the early 1970s that financed rice, cotton and other agricultural commodities.

Lon Nol came to power in a 1970 coup that ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The United States was the main financial and military supporter of Lon Nol's regime until it was toppled by the genocidal Khmer Rouge movement in April 1975.

Cambodia's current government says the money was also used to "buy weapons and support the war, which caused great suffering to the Cambodian people," Ouch Borith said.

The two countries have not yet come up with a repayment plan, partly because the Cambodian government refuses to accept responsibility for debts incurred by the Lon Nol regime, and partly because of a disagreement over the amount of debt owed.

America Says It Did Not Propose Creating Special Advisory Post at Khmer Rouge Tribunal

19 January 2008
Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper
Translated from Khmer and posted online

Top US leader for the East Asian and Pacific affairs has denied news reports that the United States proposes creating a special advisory post at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal [KRT], which is currently facing funding shortage.

Scot Marciel, deputy assistant secretary for the East Asian and Pacific affairs, made the denial at a news conference held at the US Embassy on 18 January, during his visit three-day visit to Cambodia, from 16 to 18 January.

The denial was issued after Kao Kim Hourn, Cambodian state secretary of foreign affairs, told reporters at the Foreign Ministry on 17 January that the United States had raised a proposal that the Cambodian side create a position of special advisory post in the KRT, and that Cambodia was considering it.

At the 15-minute press conference, Marcel emphatically said, "We support the KRT because it is important to the Cambodian people," adding, "To my understanding, this affair about strengthening the KRT has been discussed by the United States and Cambodia.

"We just say it is an idea that it is better to have standardization. It makes us easy to offer funding, but it is not a requirement and a proposal by the United States." He also asserted that the United States was still considering whether funds should be given to the KRT. He added, "It is not an issue that concerns the government, but it depends on the Senate's decision, and we are holding discussion with the Senate." He also said, "We are determined to supply funds, but within the framework of that funding, the Senate is the comptroller."

The United States has witnessed the progress made by the KRT over last year and greeted the tribunal process. By the end of 2007, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [ECCC], called KRT, detained five suspects who are former leaders of the KR regime. They include Nuon Chea, former national assembly chairman; Ieng Sary, former deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and his wife, Ieng Thirith, former minister of social and women's affairs minister; Koh Santepheap, former head of state, and Kaing Guek-iev, former head of Tuol Sleng prison.

The KRT announced recently that while the Cambodian side would run out of funds for the planned three-year KRT operations in March 2008, the UN side in December. Anyway, despite the three years projected, it is estimated that the KRT might need additional time for the process of seeking justice for the Cambodian people.

Lost in the translation: US Denies Seeking Advisory Role for Funding

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

A US State Department official said Friday the US government has no desire to be an adviser to the Khmer Rouge tribunal.

The remarks, by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Scot Marciel, were an apparent reaction to government statements Thursday that the US was seeking an advisory role in the tribunal in exchange for helping fund it.

“It’s certainly not our proposal or our recommendations, and there was no discussion about an American role,” Marciel said Friday, referring to government talks during his three-day visit to Cambodia.

The US has so far provided no monetary support for the tribunal, and officials say they are evaluating whether the tribunal will meet international standards of justice.

“As I said, fundamentally, what we are looking for is the question of whether the tribunal can meet the international standards of justice,” Marciel said. “That would make it certainly much easier for us to look at funding.”

US seeks role in Cambodian KRouge trials: official

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The United States wants an advisory role in Cambodia's Khmer Rouge tribunal and would consider helping fund the cash-strapped court if given the post, a Cambodian official said Thursday.

The offer was made during talks with the US State Department's Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel, said Kao Kim Huorn, a secretary of state with the foreign ministry.

"The US requested that Cambodia create another post -- a special advisor to help the Khmer Rouge tribunal," Kao Kim Huorn said after meeting with top US officials.

"This is a condition if Cambodia wants the US to provide funds for the tribunal. Cambodia is considering the request," he added, saying the advisor's role was under discussion.

The United States is a key Cambodian donor but has not pledged funding for the 56.3 million-dollar tribunal established to try senior Khmer Rouge leaders.

"The US is worried about the independence and standards of the court," Kao Kim Huorn said.

US Embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle could not be reached for comment on the offer. Marciel is in Cambodia through Friday to meet top government officials.

The UN-backed tribunal has come under fire amid allegations of political interference, corruption and fiscal mismanagement.

Sean Visoth, Cambodia's top administrator to the tribunal, declined to comment on the offer, which comes at a crucial time for the court.

Already burdened by a multimillion-dollar shortfall when it opened in 2006, the tribunal is set to run out of funds by March without another cash injection from the international community.

Court officials have said they would embark on a major fund-raising drive early this year as the prosecution of former regime leaders looks set to go forward.

Five top cadre have been arrested so far, with the first trials expected to begin in mid-2008.

Up to two million people died of starvation, disease and overwork, or were executed under the 1975-79 rule of the Khmer Rouge, which emptied Cambodia's cities, exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia.

Schools, religion and currency were outlawed and the educated classes targeted for extermination by the communists.