Vietnam Dismisses Khieu Samphan's Claims [-VN didn't take over Cambodia in 1975, it only did it in 1979]

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
01 August 2007

A Vietnamese Embassy official Wednesday rejected the views of Khieu Samphan, former nominal head of the Khmer Rouge, who claimed Cambodia's eastern neighbor would have taken over Cambodia in 1975 if the regime had not protected the country.

Trinh Ba Kim, first secretary of the Vietnamese mission in Phnom Penh, said Khieu Samphan's claims, made to VOA Khmer earlier this week, were untrue.

Former Khmer Rouge leaders have routinely used the Vietnamese as scapegoats, and, when the regime began its spiraling self destruction, many cadre were accused of being Vietnamese agents. They were then tortured and killed.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith called Khieu Samphan an intellectual who should not have said such things.

VN embassy congratulates its Phnom Penh hunting dogs for the swift arrest of suspects in the bombing attempt on the Eyesore Monument

Vietnamese embassy congratulates the Cambodian authority’s work

01 August 2007
By Sary Roat
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Trinh Ba Kim, spokesman of the Vietnamese embassy in Cambodia, immediately congratulated the swift success of the Cambodian authority which took only 2-day to arrest 2 suspects in the attempt to bomb the Cambodian-Vietnamese memorial monument.

Trinh Ba Kim said: “This is an effort of the Cambodian police force to search for the suspects.”

RFA’s Sok Serei reported yesterday that the two arrested are: Son Than also known as Kim Sophat, a 40-year-old Cambodian man from Kampuchea Krom, and Kim Toeun, a 53-year-old former Khmer Rouge soldier. The two were accused by the authority of belonging to the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Liberation Front led by Thach Sang.

Nevertheless, Admiral Thach Sang, the (former) commander of the Cambodian Navy, and former Funcinpec MP, rejected his involvement in this activity.

Thach Sang said: “I am totally rejecting all these accusations because I resigned from the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Liberation Front (KKLF) since 20 March 2003 because my child had cancer and needed to stay at the hospital. Therefore, I was very busy and I decided to resign from the presidency of the KKLF. Since then, I was never involved in any activity related to Khmer Kampuchea Krom movements at all, I am living as a refugee in the USA only.”

Admiral Thach Sang called on the Cambodian government to review its accusation because it creates fear among all Khmer Krom people who are already suffering from oppression.

Thach Sang said: “I am asking the royal government of Cambodia to please investigate again. Please do not accuse without any basis. As a government which serves the interest of Khmer people, please do not oppress your own Khmer people. Khmer Krom brothers and sisters always have hope that the royal government of Cambodia is their second refuge, their second birthplace. When Cambodia suffers, Khmer Krom people also suffer, when Cambodia has peace, Khmer Krom people also have peace. Therefore, as a Khmer Krom person, I am always grateful to the people in the Kingdom of Cambodia.”