Archive for November 14th, 2008
Friday, November 14th, 2008
By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 November 2008Soldiers had not moved from their positions near Preah Vihear temple Friday, two days after tentative agreements by Thai and Cambodian officials to withdraw troops from a disputed pagoda on the border.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his counterpart, Sompong Amornvivat agreed in Siem Reap Wednesdday to withdraw soldiers from Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda and from positions surrounding it.
However, Maj. Gen. Srey Doeuk, commander of Intervention Division 12, based in Preah Vihear, said that following the meetings in Siem Reap, Thai soldiers remain in and around the pagoda.
"It seems like the Thai forces have kept the same positions before and after the meeting," he said.
Cambodian forces "did not have an order yet from the higher-ups" to withdraw, he said.
Var Kimhong, chairman of Cambodia's national border committee, could not confirm whether soldiers would be withdrawn.
"We haven't set a specific date when to withdraw," he said.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Friday that following Wednesday's meeting, Thailand should send documentation to its parliament, in order to adopt the agreements.
Preah Vihear temple and the nearby pagoda remain at the heart of a months-long border dispute that has led to at least two armed clashes and the deaths of at least four soldiers.
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 November 2008The Asian Development Bank and government announced success on Friday for emergency food assistance that was widely criticized by villagers as unfair.
The ADB and government undertook a $40-million emergency food distribution between Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, handing out nearly 120,000 tons to 68,000 poor families in 200 communes around the Tonle Sap lake and in Phnom Penh.
“The assistance is making a very real difference in the lives of Cambodia’s most vulnerable, in particular its children,” Arjun Goswami, ADB country director, said in a statement.
The aid was in response to rising food and fuel prices that have squeezed Cambodia’s poorest, but a number of villagers complained that the distribution was plagued by corruption and favoritism by local leaders.
“Unfortunately, the project’s funding simply could not cover all of those families in need of food assistance,” Goswami said. “It is understandable that some of those who could not be reached with assistance feel let down.”
A statement from the Minister of Economy and Finance called the emergency distribution “highly positive, except in one commune in Kampong Chhnang province, where the distribution was suspended because of villagers’ protests.”
The ADB and government said they would conduct further investigations into distribution irregularities starting Nov. 17.
“The protests that were mentioned in the media, it’s not sure they are true, but we have a mechanism to check,” said Vong Sandab, deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance, who was in charge of the distribution.
The ADB has so far received 51 phone complaints of distribution irregularities, said Long Piseth, program officer at the ADB.
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
Total hits pay with Thailand exploration wells Offshore staff PARIS -- Total has hit gas and condensate pay with three exploration wells on the Bongkot offshore concession in the Gulf of Thailand...
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
Here's a little interesting news:
A Nigerian court said an 84-year-old Islamic preacher with 86 wives should be released from jail after he was held for failing to heed a call by local leaders to divorce all but four of the women, his lawyer said.
The authorities in central Niger state had charged Mohammed Bello with "insulting religious" creed and "unlawful marriages" after local chiefs and Muslim leaders gave him a September 7, 2008 deadline to comply with sharia, Islamic law, which allows a man to have no more than four wives.
He was jailed after he failed to comply.
"The Federal High Court granted Bello unconditional release yesterday," defense lawyer David Ikotun told Reuters by phone from Abuja.
Niger is one of 12 predominantly Islamic northern states that started a stricter enforcement of sharia eight years ago.
Bello, who lives with his wives and about 170 children in the town of Bida, had pleaded not guilty to the charges at an Upper Sharia Court in the state capital Minna. But the judge refused him bail and ordered he be remanded in prison.
Before his detention, the preacher had filed a petition at a Federal High Court in the Nigerian capital Abuja seeking to enforce his rights and to be protected from local chiefs and Muslim leaders who threatened to banish him if he failed to divorce 82 of his wives.
"The judge also ordered that the inspector general of police provide him with adequate protection to ensure that his fundamental human rights are not infringed," Ikotun said, adding that Bello was still in custody.
The Niger state government said it will appeal the judgment, the lawyer said.
The court adjourned Bello's hearing to December 12.
His case has stirred controversy in Africa's most populous country of 140 million people, roughly half of whom are Muslims.
The preacher had received a number of death threats after Nigerian media began reporting on his situation in September, his spokesman said.
(Editing by Randy Fabi and Matthew Jones)
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
Salamander has issued its second Interim Management Statement as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. This statement relates to the period from July 1, 2008 to Nov...
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
Total has announced that three successful exploration wells have been drilled in Thailand and that a new phase of development of the Bongkot North Field has been launched. Three exploration wells, To...
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
, all of which discovered commercial quantities of gas and condensates. Two of these discoveries, Ton Sak 7 and Ton Sak 8 have been sanctioned for development. The Greater Bongkot North field curr...
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
, all of which discovered commercial quantities of gas and condensates. Two of these discoveries, Ton Sak 7 and Ton Sak 8 have been sanctioned for development. The Greater Bongkot North field curren...
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Friday, November 14th, 2008
Siem Reap "does not operate in compliance with the Cambodian safety regulations nor does it meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization," the commission said in a statement. ...
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