By Douglas Gillison
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
"I think it is not an attempt to attack Cambodia."
—Tea Banh, defense minister
—Tea Banh, defense minister
The Lebanese militant Islamic organization Hezbollah sank a Cambodian-flagged ship in the Mediterranean Sea late Friday in the second of two missile attacks. The Associated Press quoted Israeli military officials as saying Saturday.
The Cambodian-registered merchant vessel was sunk 60 km off the Lebanese coast by an Iranian-made cruise missile, which Hezbollah allegedly fired with assistance from Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, Israeli officials said. The crew of 12 Egyptian sailors were all rescued by passing ships. Iran later denied involvement, according to AP.
Shortly before the attack, another Hezbollah missile struck an Israeli warship, killing one sailor and leaving three others missing, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
The attack was part of a growing battle between Israel and the organization that began Wednesday when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border assault.
"I think it is not an attempt to attack Cambodia," Defense Minister Tea Banh said Sunday, adding that he had not been informed of the incident.
"We don’t know if [the ship] was registered properly," he said, adding that in the past ships have been found flying Cambodian flags when they were not registered to do so.
An estimated 700 ships around the world fly Cambodian flags.
Cambodia is one of 32 nations that register foreign ships for low fees, allowing owners to pay little or no taxes and to employ cheap labor, according to the International Transport Workers Federation.
Officials with the International Ship Registry of Cambodia could not he contacted and a secretary of state at the Council of Ministers, which began supervising ship registration in 2003, declined comment on the case.
Cambodian-flagged ships have repeatedly made the headlines in recent years.
In June 2002, French troops seized 100 kg of cocaine from a Cambodian-registered ship off the Atlantic coast of Africa.
In April Prime Minister Hun Sen called for Cambodia's shipping registry to be reformed, saying that Cambodia's reputation would be damaged if a Cambodian vessel were used by terrorists.
(Additional reporting by Pin Sisovann)
The Cambodian-registered merchant vessel was sunk 60 km off the Lebanese coast by an Iranian-made cruise missile, which Hezbollah allegedly fired with assistance from Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, Israeli officials said. The crew of 12 Egyptian sailors were all rescued by passing ships. Iran later denied involvement, according to AP.
Shortly before the attack, another Hezbollah missile struck an Israeli warship, killing one sailor and leaving three others missing, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
The attack was part of a growing battle between Israel and the organization that began Wednesday when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border assault.
"I think it is not an attempt to attack Cambodia," Defense Minister Tea Banh said Sunday, adding that he had not been informed of the incident.
"We don’t know if [the ship] was registered properly," he said, adding that in the past ships have been found flying Cambodian flags when they were not registered to do so.
An estimated 700 ships around the world fly Cambodian flags.
Cambodia is one of 32 nations that register foreign ships for low fees, allowing owners to pay little or no taxes and to employ cheap labor, according to the International Transport Workers Federation.
Officials with the International Ship Registry of Cambodia could not he contacted and a secretary of state at the Council of Ministers, which began supervising ship registration in 2003, declined comment on the case.
Cambodian-flagged ships have repeatedly made the headlines in recent years.
In June 2002, French troops seized 100 kg of cocaine from a Cambodian-registered ship off the Atlantic coast of Africa.
In April Prime Minister Hun Sen called for Cambodia's shipping registry to be reformed, saying that Cambodia's reputation would be damaged if a Cambodian vessel were used by terrorists.
(Additional reporting by Pin Sisovann)
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