Thursday May 24, 2007(Kyodo) - Cambodia destroyed about 2,400 small arms Thursday with help from the Japanese government in a joint project that began in 2003.
Some 2,428 small arms, including rifles and handguns, were burned with help from the Japan Assistance Team for Small Arms Management in Cambodia in Kompong Thom Province, about 150 kilometers north of Phnom Penh.
Provincial Gov. Nam Yum presided over a ceremony called "Flame of Peace" and more than 1,000 people, including government officers, police and local residents attended.
"A large part of these weapons were voluntarily surrendered by residents in Kampong Thom Province, following appeals to surrender weapons to the authorities through various JSAC awareness-raising activities, such as workshops," Yukiko Murasaki, JSAC's project officer, said by phone.
"The destruction ceremony is expected to enhance the residents' confidence in the security authorities and in peace in the country," she said, adding it was the 11th destruction of small arms throughout Cambodia by JSAC since 2003.
The ceremony was held while a workshop on small arms control by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is being held in Phnom Penh on a four-day schedule. It began Tuesday.
JSAC is a team for implementing the "Peace Building and Comprehensive Small Arms Management Program in Cambodia," established by the Japan International Cooperation System.
JSAC has conducted weapons collection and other peace building activities in northwest areas of Cambodia and is currently focusing on Battambang and Kompong Thom provinces.
The number of small arms collected through JSAC activities since 2003 has totaled 27,755.
Cambodia suffered more than two decades of civil war, during which weapons came from different overseas sources.
According to government data, some 206,122 weapons have been collected and destroyed in Cambodia since 1998.
Cambodian officials and an ASEAN delegation look at weapons before a weapons-destruction ceremony supported by the Japan Assistance Team for Small Arms Management in Cambodia (JSAC) in a stadium in the Kampong Thom province, 168km (104 miles) north of Phnom Penh, on May 24, 2007. The Cambodian government regularly destroys illegal weapons. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea 
A worker pours fuel over illegal weapons during a weapons-destruction ceremony supported by the Japan Assistance Team for Small Arms Management in Cambodia (JSAC) in a stadium in Kampong Thom province, 168km (104 miles) north of Phnom Penh, on May 24, 2007. The Cambodian government regularly destroys illegal weapons. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea 
Illegal weapons burn during a weapons-destruction ceremony supported by the Japan Assistance Team for Small Arms Management in Cambodia (JSAC) in a stadium in the Kampong Thom province, 168km (104 miles) north of Phnom Penh, on May 24, 2007. The Cambodian government regularly destroys illegal weapons. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
