Hun Sen, seen gesturing above, said no to sending Cambodian troops to help policing and demining in Iraq. With one of the most corrupt police and army in the world, Cambodia will have a hard time setting an example abroad. The US embassy had earlier denied that it made a formal request to the Cambodian government on this issue, the discussions held between U.S. ambassador Mussomeli and Hun Sen were purely a personal exchange. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)Reuters
Cambodia has turned down a U.S. approach on sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday.
"We will not send our armed forces to Iraq because the issue there is not in the hands of the United Nations," Hun Sen told reporters.
But even if the U.N. were in command, Cambodia would still not send troops to Iraq or Afghanistan, he said following a meeting last week with U.S. Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, who asked him to consider sending troops.
"Every day we have seen people get killed and taken hostage" in Iraq, Hun Sen said.
"So I will not let my people, who went through 30 years of suffering from war, see more horrible days of separation and suffering from the continued terrorist activities of decapitating hostages in Iraq," he said.
Cambodia, heavily mined itself and still emerging from three decades of bloody civil war and the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" in which an estimated 1.7 million people died, is sending soldiers to Sudan to help clear mines.
"We will not send our armed forces to Iraq because the issue there is not in the hands of the United Nations," Hun Sen told reporters.
But even if the U.N. were in command, Cambodia would still not send troops to Iraq or Afghanistan, he said following a meeting last week with U.S. Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, who asked him to consider sending troops.
"Every day we have seen people get killed and taken hostage" in Iraq, Hun Sen said.
"So I will not let my people, who went through 30 years of suffering from war, see more horrible days of separation and suffering from the continued terrorist activities of decapitating hostages in Iraq," he said.
Cambodia, heavily mined itself and still emerging from three decades of bloody civil war and the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" in which an estimated 1.7 million people died, is sending soldiers to Sudan to help clear mines.
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