Phan Van Khai visits his client-state

Vietnam's Prime Minister Phan Van Khai walks with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) upon his arrival at Phnom Penh International airport March 6, 2006. Phan Van Khai is on a two-day official visit in Cambodia. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea.

Vietnamese PM arrives in Cambodia on state visit

AP

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has began a two-day state visit to Cambodia, where he is to sign a deal to help Phnom Penh to demarcate their contentious border.

He was welcomed at the Phnom Penh airport by his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen. The two were to hold talks later in the day.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters that the visit would boost cooperation between the neighboring states.

"During his visit, there will be a signing of an agreement that Vietnam has agreed to give aid to Cambodia to plant border poles," he said.

In October, the two leaders inked a controversial deal in Hanoi aimed at resolving decades of territorial disputes.

The treaty resolves six of seven border disputes with Vietnam, and calls for marking the border with poles by December 2008.

Hun Sen's critics and opponents of the deal complain it cedes too much land to Vietnam, but the prime minister has flatly denied their arguments.

Nearly a dozen government critics, including human rights leader Kem Sokha, were either jailed or faced punishment under criminal defamation laws that rights groups and diplomats said were being used by Hun Sen to silence dissent.

Earlier this year, they were released on bail and later the Cambodian prime minister asked the courts to drop all defamation charges against them.

Border feuds tap into an often virulent anti-Vietnamese sentiment in Cambodia, fuelled by resentment of Vietnam's expansion over the centuries.

Their 1,100-kilometer (680-mile) border left over from French colonial times remains vague as stone markers and boundary flags have disappeared, while trees lining it have been cut down.

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Vietnam's prime minister starts two-day visit to Cambodia

Pravda

Vietnam's prime minister started a two-day visit to Cambodia on Monday, the first since the two countries signed a border agreement denounced by Cambodian critics who were later jailed by Cambodia's leader.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai was welcomed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen upon arriving at Phnom Penh International Airport. The Vietnamese leader was scheduled discuss bilateral issues with Hun Sen, King Norodom Sihamoni and other government officials during the visit.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said officials from the two countries also would sign trade and other agreements.

"This visit is to strengthen the bond of friendship and cooperation between the two countries," Hor Namhong told reporters at the airport.

Some 2,000 school children, civil servants and members of the ethnic Vietnamese community in Cambodia gathered along the road to the airport to greet the Vietnamese leader.

During a visit to Vietnam in October, Hun Sen signed a border pact with Phan Van Khai. Cambodian critics alleged that, under the pact, Hun Sen ceded Cambodian land to its communist neighbor.

Hun Sen responded by suing and throwing several of his critics in jail before allowing their release on bail last month, following strong domestic and international condemnation.

Border issues are a passionate subject for many Cambodians, who have seen the vast territory once ruled by their ancient Angkor Empire swallowed up over the centuries by larger neighbors Vietnam and Thailand, reports the AP.