091001-The post english

2,500 RIELS | VOLUME 19, No. 191

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2009

France Telecom, Royal talk Mobitel

CAMBODIA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD

www.phnompenhpost.com

Ketsana leaves trail of dead in north, central provinces

by NATHAN GREEN

CAMBODIA’S Royal Group met Wednesday with representatives of France Telecom in Phnom Penh in what sources say are advanced negotiations on terms for a joint purchase of Millicom International’s 58 percent stake in mobile-phone operator Mobitel.

A source with knowledge of the situation said France Telecom, which operates under the Orange brand, was meeting with the Cambodian holding group to do “due diligence” on the deal.

The Royal Group holds the remaining stake in Cambodia’s leading domestic operator by users, which operates under the Cellcard brand.

Millicom International Cellular SA announced in August it had reached an agreement to sell its Cambodian partner its stake for US$346 million in cash.

The money was to be payable on completion of the deal, which was expected to take place before the end of the year, subject to financing and regulatory approvals.

Sources within the industry say the price, which values Mobitel at $605 million, is a good deal, but the announcement immediately raised questions as to where the Royal Group would find the necessary capital given tight credit lines in the wake of the global economic downturn.

Royal Group Chief Financial Officer Mark Hanna refused to comment on the reported meeting Wednesday. He said only that the group was talking to “lots of interested parties” about the Mobitel purchase.

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NATIONAL

Officials hoist coffins containing the bodies of several victims in Kampong Thom, which felt the full force of Typhoon Ketsana when it hit Tuesday night. heng chivoan. by may titthara and irwin loy kampong thom province

T

YPHOON Ketsana slammed into Cambodia with devastating force Tuesday night, killing at least 11 people and leaving thousands more injured or homeless as 145km/h winds and heavy rain lashed the Kingdom.

The tail end of the storm, which has killed hundreds of people since

BUSINESS

it smashed into the Philippines on Saturday, was the most severe ever to lash Cambodia, experts said.

“This is the first time that we have seen such a storm,” said Seth Vannareth, director of the Department of Meteorology at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology.

Disaster officials confirmed on Wednesday that nine were killed and 35 injured in central Cambodia, while two died in the northeast. The

WORLD

death toll is expected to rise, with reports of more fatalities continuing to emerge across the country last night.

Kampong Thom province bore the brunt of the disaster. At least nine people were crushed to death when their homes collapsed on Tuesday night, said Chea Cheat, chief of the local Red Cross office.

In one incident, five members of one family – spanning three genera-

LIFESTYLE

tions – died in Teak Mileang, a village in the Sandan district of Kampong Thom province. A 39-year-old woman, her mother, 15-year-old daughter, 14-year-old son and a baby were killed almost instantly when the roof of their house caved in. Only the husband, who was hunting in the forest when the storm struck, survived.

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SPORT

News blog takes 130 garment Quake, tsunami Capital’s ailing Fans dismayed

by Cambodia’s on the powers factories closed flatten villages in cinema scene >17 6-0 beatdown >23 that be > 4 so far in 2009 > 7 Samoa > 11 reviving

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THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

NATIONAL

Hundreds of homes were destroyed when Typhoon Ketsana slammed into Cambodia on Tuesday night, killing at least 11 people. Kampong Thom was hardest-hit (above and inset), while heavy rains swelled the river in Siem Reap. heng chivoan, peter olszewski and AFp

Ketsana continued from > 1

“The family died because they were in the house to shelter themselves from the rain,” said Sin Chea, a relative, who said he barely escaped with his own life. “I was sitting under my house when the storm hit.

When the storm came, I ran away. That’s why I survived.

Fifteen minutes later, my house was destroyed.”

A neighbour who witnessed the tragedy compared it to the

horrors of Cambodia’s bloody civil war. Meas Sophea, 38, said: “My neighbours are all dead and our houses have been destroyed, just as they were during the civil war.” After seeing the storm destroy her neighbours’ home, she fled to the pagoda but suffered a broken leg when it, too, collapsed.

“When I saw [my neighbours’] bloodstains on the ground, I ran out of my house to the pagoda, but then the pagoda also fell down,” she said.

Pang Phot, a police officer, said the storm struck quickly. “It was raining heavily and people could not flee their homes because the

wind hit immediately,” he said.

“I have never seen such a strong wind in my life. It punched the village immediately. It shocked us. Many wooden houses were immediately blown away and many others collapsed to the ground.”

In addition to the official death toll, three more people were reported dead in Siem Reap province, deputy Governor Bun Tharith said. One man was killed in Angkor Thom district when his house collapsed while he slept. Another died when he fell from his fishing boat in Chikrei district. Details of the third death could not be

confirmed last night. Severe flooding was also reported in Siem Reap, where the river reached dangerous levels

By Wednesday, the typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm. Although the worst of Ketsana is now over, the final death toll is yet to come, officials say.

“We have still not had reports from some districts,” said Ly Samreth, chief of cabinet for Siem Reap province, noting that many people in his province were caught out by the storm depite repeated warnings – including one from Prime Minister Hun Sen – last week. “Cambodian people

weren’t prepared for Ketsana despite the forecast,” he said.

A Cambodia Red Cross (CRC) official confirmed that the storm had taken some villages by surprise. “We already informed the local villagers to be careful, but they seemed not to pay much attention on the issue, and when the storm

occurred, it damaged a lot of properties,” said Neth Sophanna, the CRC’s vice director of disaster management.

“We have not yet counted the number of families affected.

We are still investigating further to evaluate the scope of the damages.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MOM KUNTHEAR, SAM RITH AND AFP

The full measure of Ketsana’s wrath by irwin loy

TODAY

A satellite image of the storm taken Monday. nasa

Typhoon Ketsana has cut a devastating swathe through Southeast Asia, leaving hundreds dead and millions more injured, homeless or lacking basic resources.

The trail of destruction began in the Philippines, which bore the brunt of the storm Saturday when a month’s worth of rain fell in just nine hours. Described as the heaviest rainfall to hit the country in 40 years, Ketsana plunged 80 percent of the capital Manila

under water. At least 246 people were killed, with a further 2.2 million directly affected. At least 375,000 people have been forced into evacuation camps, stretching the country’s emergency relief capabilities to their limits.

By Sunday, wind speeds had reached 180 km/h and 48 centimetres of rain was recorded in a 24-hour period.

On Tuesday, Ketsana landed in Vietnam. More than 55 people died and a further 11 are still missing. Six coastal provinces were evacuated, an operation

involving almost 170,000 people.

The city of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site, remained under 3 metres of water Wednesday. Local officials compared it with a disaster that killed hundreds along the country’s central coast a decade ago.

World Vision reported that 5,800 houses had collapsed, with another 163,000 stripped of their roofs. Some 20,000 hectares of agricultural land have been flooded, according to government officials.

On Tuesday evening, the storm

collided with Cambodia, killing at least 11 people and forcing thousands of families to flee their homes to escape the rising floodwaters.

By Wednesday, the typhoon had lost some of its strength and was downgraded to a tropical storm as it continued to push on into Laos. No deaths had been reported as of last night, but flooding had left some areas along the Sekong River awash in up to a metre of water. Two villages in Sekong province were completely submerged.

THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

NATIONAL

P Vihear ruling disregarded

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FISHY ANGLERs

Fishing ban nets multiple Thai panel’s condemnation of support for Heritage listing insignificant, Cambodia says offenders

by THET SAMBATH and ROBBIE COREY-BOULET

C

AMBODIAN officials have dismissed as insignificant a ruling from a Thai anticorruption body finding former premier Samak Sundaravej and former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama guilty of illegally backing the World Heritage site application for Preah Vihear temple.

The Thai National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) ruled on Tuesday that the officials should have obtained parliamentary approval before seeking a cabinet resolution that allowed Noppadon to sign a June 2008 communique expressing support for the application.

“The NCCC has ruled that [Samak and Noppadon] violated the law and the constitu-

tion,” said Klanarong Chantik, the body’s spokesman.

He also said the body would send its decision to the Thai senate and the supreme court’s criminal division for persons holding political positions, meaning the officials could face prosecution.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said the ruling would have no impact on the ongoing row over disputed border territory near the ruins.

“Preah Vihear belongs solely to the Kingdom of Cambodia, so what happened in Thailand about the charges against the former prime minister is the internal affair of Thailand,” he said.

Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, declined to comment on the ruling, saying it was Thailand’s “internal affair”.

But Rong Chhun, president

Trigger-happy driver sentenced 18 months

by CHRANN CHAMROEUN

A woman who fired a handgun into the air during a traffic dispute that escalated into a fourhour standoff with police was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 months in prison on charges of reckless endangerment and illegal possession of a weapon.

Khay Dara, 22, will serve her time in Prey Sar prison, according to Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Presiding Judge Chang Sinat also ordered her to pay a 1 million riel (US$239) fine.

On Monday night, Khay Dara was driving down Street 271 in Meanchey district when a Honda CR-V sport utility vehicle cut across her lane of traffic in the wrong direction to make a turn, the court heard.

When the Honda pulled over, the court was told, Khay Dara got out of her vehicle and ap-

proached the other driver, holding a gun in her hand.

After firing the weapon in the air four times, Khay Dara launched into an abusive tirade, the court was told, prompting residents to summon police.

Witness Tuon Makara said that Khay Dara appeared drunk as she taunted police and onlookers.

In an attempt to avoid arrest, Khay Dara falsely said she was an adviser to Assembly President Heng Samrin, the niece of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and an acquaintance of National Police Chief Neth Savoeun, the court was told.

Meanchey district Governor Kuoch Chamroeun said he received specific orders from city Governor Kep Chuktema to ensure the woman was prosecuted, “ignoring interventions from top-level authorities”.

Muslims, police clash

by CHRANN CHAMROEUN

MILITARY police clashed Wednesday with a group of about 40 Cambodian Cham Muslims outside the Takeo Provincial Court after a judge ordered the arrest of a Muslim community leader on disinformation charges.

Supporters of the suspect, Ny San, blocked police from entering the courthouse for two hours before finally being dispersed. Ny San was then taken to prison.

Ny San and Suth Sen, two prominent members of Borei Cholsa district’s Muslim community, were questioned by investigating judge Tit Sothy in connection with a complaint brought against them

by Ry Mab, the formally recognised head of the Borei

Cholsa Muslims.

Ry Mab’s lawsuit against the men stems from a failed 2008 attempt within the community to elect a new representative, Chheng Sophos, a senior investigator for the rights group Licadho, said.

Two Radio Free Asia reporters and two Cambodian Centre for Human Rights activists were also named in the case and were due for questioning today, but the arrest of Ny San has put the appearance of the four in doubt.

Chheng Sophos said, “I am so upset with [the judge’s] decision to hold the man in prison. This is a misdemeanor crime and not a felony crime.”

Licadho is now considering whether to provide Ny San and Suth Sen with lawyers, he added.

A boy leans against the ruins of the Preah Vihear temple. TRACEY SHELTON

of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, said the ruling was another example of Thai officials trying to use the Preah Vihear dispute for domestic political gain.

“Thai leaders always have

used Preah Vihear temple for their propaganda to get popularity,” he said.

He said the communique had played no role in the application’s approval.

“The decision to list the tem-

ple as a World Heritage site was made by Cambodian leaders, not by Thai leaders,” he said.

Chuch Phoeung, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said support from the Thai officials had been inconsistent.

“Actually, Samak and Noppadon did not assist Cambodians in the listing of Preah Vihear temple. They started to curse us and UNESCO officials in Quebec,” he said, referring to the July 2008 meeting at which the application was approved.

For his part, Noppadon blasted the ruling as unfair and based on evidence provided by his political opponents, The Bangkok Post reported Wednesday.

He said the communique did not need to be cleared by parliament because it was not an international treaty. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP

A

uthorities confiscated more than a million metres of illegal fishnets, 5,000 electrodes used for electrofishing and 4,000 illegal fish traps between June and the start of October, according to Nao Thuok, director of the Fisheries Administration in the Ministry of Agriculture. This year’s commercial fishing season is set to open across the country today after a threemonth ban, which allows for the renewal of fish stocks.

Fishing in Kandal, Takeo and Kampong Speu provinces will be delayed until early November because of later spawning times. Sixty people were also sent to court on illegal fishing charges during the 2009 off-season, Nao Thuok said. KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA

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THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

NATIONAL

Local news blog a haven of dissent The anonymous authors of KI-Media are forging an independent place in the political sphere

by JAMES o’TOOLE and KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA

O

N September 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a press conference in which it attempted to dispel a report that Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua had participated in an “official” meeting in Washington with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“The US ambassador met with me yesterday and said that what was published on KIMedia was not true,” a secretary of state for the ministry, Ouch Borith, said. “It is an exaggeration and a lie.”

The meeting between Clinton and Mu Sochua did in fact take place, but debate continues over whether it was strictly official or not. Whatever one makes of this controversy, however, Ouch Borith’s comments signal the rising stature of KIMedia, an English-language news aggregation blog founded several years ago by a group of like-minded Cambodians who met on a series of Internet discussion forums.

Their first post appeared on July 27, 2005, featuring a controversial video interview with Chhay Vee, a man who claimed involvement in the 1997 gre-

nade attack in front of the old National Assembly building that killed 16 people.

“Looking back,” wrote Socheata, one of the administrators of the site, “posting that video essentially defined one of our goals that we have maintained since: disseminating information that is not easily available through the traditional media, or that has been suppressed/banned/censored by the Phnom Penh regime”.

Like the other contributors interviewed, Socheata insisted on confining correspondence to email and requested that he be identified only by his Internet handle, citing concerns about “safety and security”.

In the four years since the Chhay Vee video, the KI-Media team has stepped up its output, culling from local and international news outlets to produce a mix of news articles, political cartoons and editorials that number in the double digits on a daily basis. For the week of September 14, Socheata said, the site tallied 73,400 page views from almost 32,000 unique users.

KI-Media’s dozen or so regular contributors include four Cambodian residents, with others in Europe, Australia and North America. Though Socheata said the site is “not aligned with

A Cambodian woman visits ki-media.blogspot.com, the Web site of the Cambodian news blog KI-Media. The site posts news, opinion and political cartoons from local and international sources. SOVAN PHILONG

any political party”, another contributor, Khmerization, acknowledged that it “tends to be opposition-oriented”.

This assessment is borne out by the blog’s design. Passages of articles that include condemnations of the government are often enlarged and printed in red font, and contributors do not hesitate to editorialise. “15% garment sector decline, double digits drop in air arrivals, construction slowdown, but… all is fine in Hun Xen’s Cambodia!” read the site’s heading for a

press release from the International Monetary Fund posted last week, the premier’s name spelled Vietnamese-style, with an “X”, in a jibe at his ties with the neighbouring country.

KI-Media’s site, ki-media. blogspot.com, has garnered attention across Cambodia’s political spectrum. Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said he checks it several times a day, and that many other members of government are also regular readers.

Despite their frequent attacks

on the government, Khieu Kanharith said that those who post on the site need not fear government prosecution.

“People have the right to comment about whatever they want without fear of defamation or disinformation lawsuits,” the information minister said. “But if journalists take comments from the blog and publish them in newspapers or on radio and TV to incite violence or defame someone, they will face a complaint.”

Others do not see the distinction between traditional news outlets and Web sites like KIMedia in such a cut-and-dried manner.

Soy Sopheap, publisher of the Deum Ampil newspaper, said he was one of many local and international journalists who regularly check KI-Media.

He expressed frustration at the blog’s aggregating style, however, saying its contributors are siphoning revenue from professional journalists.

“I pay US$1,000 per month to my staff to report the news, and they steal from us,” he said. “It’s not fair to my media company.”

Heng Soy, another KI-Media blogger, dismissed this allegation. Though the site does post and translate articles from other news outlets, he said, this is done only with proper attribution to the original source. As for theft of revenue, Heng Soy noted that he and other contributors refuse paid advertisements “to avoid criticisms that we are trying to make a profit from this blog”.

Pa Nguon Teang, director of the Cambodian Centre for Independent Media, agreed that KI-Media properly sources the news it takes from other outlets, and said that he supports online debate. He worried, however, about the anonymous Web site’s lack of accountability.

“If they want to continue with this kind of work, they should identify themselves,” he said.

“They are a media outlet, and they need to show their professionalism.”

Though contributors exchange only limited personal information with one another, most, Socheata said, appear to be students. He and others noted several events on which KI-Media helped drive coverage by traditional outlets, including the 2005 arrest of Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha and the controversial “ilovethailand” Web site that drew the ire of the Cambodian government this July after claiming parts of Cambodia as lost Thai territory.

Rather than competing with the mainstream media, however, Socheata said the goal of KI-Media is simply to encourage dialogue on the part of its readers.

“What we would like to foster is a healthy political debate on all issues that affect Cambodians,” he said.

HAVE YOUR SAY newsroom@phnompenhpost.com PO Box 146, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

NATIONAL Railway families take govt buyouts

in BRIEF BUILDINGS may pose threat to flights

City authorities met with construction companies on Wednesday to discuss concerns that plans to build tall structures near Phnom Penh International Airport could obstruct aircraft flight paths.

Three building projects – Camko City, De Castle Diamond and Sky – were addressed in the meeting, with Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong saying City Hall had granted licences for the projects but had been unaware of the potential problem. Mao Havannall, a secretary of state for civil aviation, said tall buildings near the airport could pose dangers at night or in bad weather. MAY 

by kim yuthana and meas sokchea

TITTHARA AND CHHAY CHANNYDA

CAMPAIGN aims for electoral honesty

Local election monitoring group Comfrel has launched a television campaign encouraging people to ensure commune councillors live up to election promises made during council elections in 2007. The 16-minute ad, which will air on TV9 and Apsara until October 8, aims to encourage the electorate to hold their leaders to account. “Unless citizens actively participate, political parties could fail to fulfil their election promises,” said Comfrel’s Sonkert Sereyleak. 

VONG SOKHENG

RESIDENTS CRY FOUL ON POLICE SEWAGE  Residents of Banteay

Meanchey’s Poipet town have complained that border police belonging to Battalion 891 have allowed rubbish and sewage to flow into a local pond. Fifty-nine families from Kilometre 4 village complained to local rights group Adhoc on Monday after bad water fouled the pond.“[Villagers] use water for bathing, cleaning dishes and cooking, but now the pond is polluted,” said Adhoc monitor Khiev Borey. CHHAY CHANNYDA

5

A hundred flowers blooming Interior Minister Sar Kheng (in suit, left), National Assembly President Heng Samrin (centre) and Zhang Jinfeng, China’s ambassador to Cambodia, pose for photos with a dance troupe Monday during a reception marking the 60th anniversary of the Beijing regime. Zhang hailed the growing links between the two countries, saying Cambodia and China will “always be good neighbours in peace with each other, good friends of sincerity and creditability, good brothers sharing weal and woes, and good partners in cooperation”. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Judicial assistants take flak

by MEAS SOKCHEA

A NEW sub-decree appointing assistants to the country’s top judicial body has been criticised by opposition members and civil society groups who say it represents another instance of “interference” in the judicial system.

The sub-decree, issued on September 23, orders the appointment of 11 officials as assistants to the disciplinary panel of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM), the body constitutionally charged with reviewing the Kingdom’s court system.

Suy Mongleang, secretary general of the General Secretariat for Legal and Judicial Reform in the Council of Min-

isters, said the new appointees would help fill a shortfall of staff on the panel.

“The president of the disciplinary panel asked us to help because [it] does not have human resources and material,” he said. According to the sub-decree, the new appointees will be under the authority of the president and prosecutor general of the Supreme Court.

However, government critics said that in appointing members of the Cambodian People’s Party in line with the new subdecree, the government was breaching the country’s constitutional separation of powers.

“If there is any interference into the judiciary, it is an abuse of democratic principles,” said Sam Rainsy Party spokesman

Yim Sovann.

“If we want the judiciary system to be independent, we should not allow party members to have the position of judges or to be the members of judicial bodies.”

Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodia Defenders Project, said there was no problem if the government was creating the body to aid in the investigations of the panel, but that any direct involvement in disciplinary decisions would be illegal.

Others said the new body – whatever its merits – should have been created through the legislature rather than by subdecree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen. “If we want to reform the court system, we

should have a law from the [National] Assembly,” said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.

“It is not a decision for the prime minister.”

Suy Mongleang rejected the criticisms, saying the new body would be unable to independently punish judges.

“We are just helping the courts’ administration, relating to material and human resources. In countries all over the world, the government helps to do this,” he said.

The criticisms follow similar concerns about a 26-member panel formed by Hun Sen earlier this month, with a mandate to weed out “irregularities” in criminal cases that come before the country’s courts.

THE final 23 families living along rail lines in Tuol Kork district agreed on Wednesday to accept compensation from City Hall, though at least one resident said he believed the families had been forced into the deal after the government threatened to evict them.

“I agree to accept this, though it is with great suffering,” said Hay Saroeurn, who received US$20,000.

He said 13 other families had also received $20,000, and that nine were given $15,000.

Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun confirmed that the families had accepted compensation and agreed to move.

Earlier in the day, the families had expressed their intent to hold out for offers of more money.

“If the compensation was more reasonable than what has been offered, then I would be willing to move,” Phan Vong, who also lives in the settlement known as Community B, said Wednesday morning.

Buy Hay Saroeurn said the families had changed their mind after municipal officials reiterated their plans to use “administrative measures” to resolve the dispute if no agreement had been reached

by Friday.

Sang Sopheak Vichet, deputy chief of Tuol Kork district, said officials had done everything they could to resolve the dispute in a manner that would benefit the villagers.

“Whether they chose to accept the compensation or not was their choice,” he said.

“But we were planning to take administrative measures on October 2.”

WHO Cambodia is inviting applications for one position as TECHNICAL OFFICER for Reproductive Maternal Newborn & Child Health (RMNCH) Task Force (on Special Service Agreement - SSA) The Health Sector Strategic Plan 2008-2015 has Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn & Child Health as one its highest priorities and the RMNCH Task Force was formed to coordinate and accelerate implementation of RMNCH activities. This is a full-time position for twelve months beginning as soon as possible with a possibility of extension. The Technical Officer will be based in Phnom Penh at MoH, with support costs being met by WHO. Applications from women are encouraged.

Deadline for applications: 16th October 2009 Terms of reference To support the full functioning of the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) Task Force under the direction and supervision of the Chair and Vice Chair: • Secretariat duties to the RMNCH Task Force • Support the implementation of the RMNCH Task Force activities at national and provincial levels including monitoring and evaluation of RMNCH activities and support for AOP development and review Qualifications required • Medical Doctor with additional training in public health (MPH preferable) Experience and skills • At least 5 years experience working with the Ministry of Health and/or with health related donor funded programmes or projects • At least 3-5 years experience working in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child health areas • Computer skills in Word, Excel, Power Point. Data management and analysis skills an advantage.

• Experience in Monitoring and Evaluation of programs • Strong interpersonal, organizational and management skills Languages: Fluent in speaking, reading and writing English and Khmer Salary: Attractive remuneration package.

Interested applicants are required to send a CV to the WHO Representative Office before the deadline. Please indicate the post number in your application. Smoking is not allowed in WHO premises.

This is a re-advertisement, previous applicants need not apply.

The mission of WHO is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.

For additional information and full ToR please contact the WHO office in Phnom Penh located at 177-179 Pasteur Street, by email under postmaster.cam@wpro.who.int, or by telephone under (023)216610..

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THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

NATIONAL www.phnompenhpost.com

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Sad situation for civil parties The Khmer Rouge Tribunal is conducting a legal experiment at the expense of the regime’s thousands of surviving victims COMMENT YOUK CHHANG

I am writing to share my thoughts on the Extraordinary Chambers’ present reassessment of the role of civil parties.

As has been known to all involved since the beginning, the suspects in detention are old and frail, and the ECCC has limited time and money and is therefore under pressure to reach judgement as quickly as possible.

With an estimated 5 million survivors still living, any serious attempt to include victims in the process would have resulted in submission to the ECCC Victims Unit of at least 1 million complaints and a far greater number of civil party applications than the 2,000 received so far. The VU was nevertheless established late without sufficient staffing and financial resources, and was never able to catch up with processing the proportionately small number of applications it received.

Moreover, I agree with the concerns expressed by Dr Ear in The Wall Street Journal (“Cambodian ‘Justice’ – Without major personnel changes, the Khmer Rouge trial risks descending into farce”) that recent changes in personnel have placed unqualified persons in charge of the VU’s critical tasks. The court’s administration of victim participation has, therefore, always been inadequate.

In addition, no attempt was ever made by the co-investigating or trial judges in the Duch/ S-21 case to limit the number of civil parties by applying the qualifying criteria or otherwise vetting the applications. A number of civil parties who have spoken during the trial have had their accounts dismissed by the defence and publicly questioned. With the trial

A civil party member in the trial of former S-21 prison chief Kang Guek Eav, alias Duch, visits the Choeung Ek killing fields last month. TRACEY SHELTON

almost over, the defence is seeking to dismiss 24 out of 93 civil parties from the case. The affected civil parties have no doubt been traumatised to some extent by these events.

Efforts from the start to regulate civil party recognition would have avoided some of these challenges and led to earlier discussion of the problems the court is now belatedly attempting to address.

The ECCC judges now stand ready to substantially reduce or eliminate the role of civil parties

in advance of the second trial due to concerns about the time involved in adjudicating the large number of expected defence challenges. The unfortunate result of this is the impression that the ECCC has conducted a legal experiment at victims’ expense. My overriding concern is, therefore, how to remedy the harm caused to the nearly 2,000 victims who have already applied for civil party status in the second case.

It is true that many civil parties do not fully understand the

meaning of the term “civil party” and the scope of their role in the proceedings. However, it would be disrespectful for the court to hide behind this outreach failure. If the court wants to limit civil party rights, it has an obligation to explain the full legal implications both to the public at large and to the applicants before a final plan is adopted.

I would encourage the ECCC to write civil party applicants individually to acknowledge their applications, notify them of any anticipated change in procedure and assure them that their participatory role will remain historically significant.

Additionally, I believe that the court should engage each applicant in person by inviting them in small groups to Phnom Penh to hear about proposed changes from judicial officials and be given an opportunity to voice their opinions either verbally or by filling out a written questionnaire. Finally, if representative victims are called to testify during the second trial, I feel strongly that a number of these persons should be voted for by the current civil party applicants from among a group preselected by a Victims Unit representative.

Whatever the court’s ultimate decision about the scope of victim participation in the second trial, it has the obligation to explain the changes directly to affected victims and to respectfully hear their views.

If called upon, DC-Cam will be more than happy to contribute logistical support for such meetings, including securing a meeting place, arranging for artistic performances and assisting with the creation of a questionnaire.

Youk Chhang is the executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, a project begun by the Cambodian Genocide Centre at Yale University.

police blotter TWO DRUNKen MOTO THIEVES ON THE RUN

l Sean Ratha, 20, was arrested by Pursat provincial police on Monday after he and two other accomplices stole a motorbike from a karaoke parlor in Prey Nhi commune.

The victim, Sean Sokhom, 34, told police that on Monday night at about 9pm he drove two karaoke girls to Ponleu Chan Karaoke when three drunk people appeared and hurt him. Police identified the two fugitives as Vat, 22, and Lov, 20. RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

CHIEF DISCOVERED HANGED AT HOME

l Svay Ngim, 58, the chief of Kaheng village in Kampong Speu province’s Sampoang Tong district, was found hanging from a mango tree behind his house on Monday. His wife Ou Samot, 54, told police that her husband had told her a few days before his hanging that he had a headache and was feeling scared of something. On the day of the incident, he woke up at 5:30am and walked behind the house, but she did not pay attention to his behaviour. Koh Santepheap

MAN Gets 15 years for incest-rape

l Chhorn Phal, 48, was sentenced to 15 years in jail by Kampong Speu provincial court on Tuesday on charges of raping his daughter five times and causing her to become pregnant. Police said that Chhorn Phal, living in Chumpo Prek village, in Oudong district, was arrested on February 2 after police received complaints from the victim. At the hearing, the suspect told the court that he did not force his daughter, but that she agreed to have sex with him, but the claim was denied by the victim. RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

THREE ARRESTED OVER APRIL KILLING

l Military Police in Banteay Meanchey province arrested three people last week on suspicion of the premeditated murder of a 43-year-old market vendor. Men Phearom, provincial deputy commander of the Military Police, said the arrests were made after the suspects used samarai swords to chop vendor Sok Chhaily on April 30, causing him severe injuries. Men Phearom said a sword was confiscated, and that the three suspects have been sent to the provincial court for punishment. KAMPUCHEA THMEY

trANSLATED BY CHEANG SOKHA

CORRECTION The article “Bank says govt should cap pawnshop lending” (September 30) said Hou Samnang is deputy chief of the National Bank of Cambodia’s supervision department. In fact, Roth Sovanorak holds this position.

7

THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

business 130 garment factories shut this year, govt says Closures resulted in more than 30,000 lost jobs, says ministry, with fewer than 10,000 positions created at 40 new factories

by CHUN SOPHAL

T

HE Ministry of Labour announced Wednesday that 130 garment factories had closed or suspended operations during the first three quarters due to declining purchase orders.

According to an official report, 77 garment factories were shuttered, resulting in the loss of 30,683 jobs in the first nine months, while 53 suspended operations, causing a further 30,617 workers to go without work during the closure period.

A further 40 factories opened during the same period, the data showed, creating work for 9,605 people.

The temporarily closed factories would reopen should sufficient orders be placed, said Thau Buthorn, deputy director of the department of inspection at the Ministry of Labour.

“Only purchase orders can help garment factories in Cambodia resume their production and face the effects of the glob-

A worker makes garments at Phnom Penh’s Modern Dress Sewing Factory in this file photo. Nearly 80 factories have closed this year, and 53 have suspended operations due to the economic crisis. SOVAN PHILONG

al economic crisis,” he said.

Kaing Monika, business development manager at the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC), said it had been a difficult period for the sector, the largest

export industry in Cambodia.

“Only those factories which are supported by significant international buyers have survived and managed to continue producing through this hard time,” he said, adding

that just 283 GMAC factories were still operating.

Ath Thun, the president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Unions (CCAWDU), said some factories had closed briefly and reopened to take advantage of a five-year tax holiday for new factories.

They also used it as a way to lay off staff without severance payments and then rehire them on new contracts with reduced benefits, he said.

He said factory owners bribed “corrupt officials or union leaders” to get away with the practice, illegal under Cambodian law, which states that bankrupt companies must go through bankruptcy proceedings first.

The World Bank noted in its Doing Business 2010 report that bankruptcy proceedings have not gotten off the ground in Cambodia despite the passage of the bankruptcy law.

Kaing Monika said only two GMAC factories had reopened after closure, both with different owners.

Official preparations begin for three IPOs

by NGUON SOVAN

THE government announced the start of preparations for three state-owned companies to list on the forthcoming stock exchange in a meeting Wednesday at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA), Telecom Cambodia and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port held a meeting on initial public offerings with Minister Keat Chhon, who said the companies would act as an example to the rest of the private sector during the bourse’s initial stage. The main benefit from listing would be good corporate governance, he said.

“The listing is a method to mobilise financial resources for these enterprises,” he said, adding that all three had been the subject of takeover enquiries by foreign firms, the reason they had been selected to list.

Chhun Sambath, director of the department of securities issuance at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia, announced Wednesday the financial requirements for listing in the Kingdom, the first time the regulations have been made public, although these have not yet been finalised.

A minimum capital of 10 billion riels (US$2.39 million) would be required, he said, along with a minimum annual

MH Bio-Energy agrees new cassava deal

by MAY KUNMAKARA

BANTEAY Meanchey-based Te Haing Development Co agreed last month to provide South Korea’s MH Bio-Energy Group with dried cassava for conversion into ethanol, managers at the two companies said Wednesday.

Ros Sopharith, senior manager of MH Bio-Energy Group, which was closed temporarily in September over watercontamination concerns, said his company had spent US$1 million to build a

5-hectare drying court as well as a warehouse for Te Haing.

“My company built these facilities to help Te Haing process cassava. I’m not worried about Te Haing supplying us with enough dried cassava because they will be growing part of the volume themselves,” he said.

The plant currently produces 10,000 tonnes of ethanol per year for export to Europe.

Te Haing, owner of Te Haing Development Co, said that MH Bio-Energy

Group had helped him organise purchases of cassava from farmers in Banteay Meanchey province, but that he had also planted 1,000 hectares of cassava of his own in the province’s Svay Chek district, close to the drying and storage site.

“I signed a contract with MH Bio-Energy to supply them with 6,000 tonnes of dried cassava every two or three months,” said Te Haing, adding that MH Bio-Energy agreed to buy the dried cassava at $92 per tonne, while he would pay local

farmers between $38 and $44 per tonne for the fresh cassava.

“Right now the drying area needs to be expanded by 5 hectares”, Te Haing said. “We cannot dry our cassava by machine like corn, rice or other crops because of it will damage the quality.”

According to Te Haing, on a good day his facility can dry 1,000 tonnes of cassava.

Ros Sopharith said that Te Haing Company would begin supplying after the end of the rainy season.

net profit of 1.5 billion riels during the previous period. Over the prior three years, a combined net profit of at least 3 billion riels would be set, he added.

A public offering would be at least 300,000 shares, Chhun Sambath said, at a minimum of 4,000 riels per share, meaning a total value of 1.2 billion riels.

An independent auditor would have to check all accounts for the previous three years prior to listing, he added.

Han Kyung Tae, chief representative of Tong Yang Securities of South Korea, which is serving as financial adviser to the ministry on matters related to the exchange, said it was still too early to tell whether the three companies selected were up to the required standard – this would normally be determined over about the next six months of preparations, he said.

“But we can speed this up and possibly finish in four months,” he said.

Last month, the heads of the three companies told the Post they had been ordered to list by the government.

Although the government has previously said it would plan to launch the exchange – in partnership with Seoul-based Korea Exchange – by the end of 2009, Keat Chhon declined to comment Wednesday on a possible start date.

Riel Money Exchange rates

USD / KHR USD / JPY USD / SGD USD /CNY USD / VND USD / KRW AUD / USD NZD / USD EUR / USD GBP / USD

4176 89.50 1.4150 6.8269 17840 1194 0.8780 0.7188 1.4630 1.6010

Indicative rates as of noon 30/09/09 Call centre 023 999 000 Direct Treasury 023 221 306

8

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

BUSINESS

Food prices hold steady in Q3 with inflation at 1.1pc Ministry of Commerce figures show inflation is under control, but analysts say rising prices will speed up through year-end

BY STEVE FINCH AND JEREMY MULLINS

F

OOD prices remained fairly static in the third quarter, rising 1.1 percent compared with the previous three months, statistics released Wednesday by the Ministry of Commerce showed.

Following quarter-on-quarter deflation of close to 5 percent in the first three months of the year on a basket of 36 common household foodstuffs, and 1.7 percent inflation in the second quarter, the period from the end of June to the end of September saw a stabilisation in prices on items from maize to MSG. The trend mirrors that shown by recent government consumer price index (CPI) data that suggest inflationary pressure has eased over the past three months: CPI rose 1.8 percent in June, slowing to 1.5 percent in July and 0.7 percent in August. “With lower domestic demand and commodity prices, inflation pressures have eased in 2009,� the International

Shoppers buy food at Central Market in this file photo. Inflation on food prices remained low in the third quarter in sharp contrast to the large increases in July and August 2008. STEVE FINCH

Monetary Fund (IMF) said last week after concluding a mission to Cambodia.

The commodities that saw the highest price increases during the third quarter included garlic (138.1 percent), morning glory (60.4 percent) and imported Thai sugar (30.9 percent).

Meat in particular suffered deflating prices over the same period, figures showed – pork fell 9.7 percent, chicken was

down 8.3 percent, and duck fell 5.4 percent.

Rice, the staple for many Cambodians, saw a 4.7 percent rise for the milled variety, while paddy fell in price compared with the end of the last quarter, down 1.9 percent. “The increase is very small compared to previous years [during the third quarter],� said Yang Saing Koma, president of the Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in

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Agriculture.

Usually rice prices climb in the third quarter, he said, as supplies become scarcer ahead of the harvest season at the end of the year.

A good harvest is expected this year, the IMF said last week, meaning supply is unlikely to place too much inflationary pressure on food prices.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) forecast in its October outlook for Cambodia a 20.3 percent decline in food prices this year compared with 2008. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In line with global trends, food and fuel prices have fallen from their highs of mid2008,â&#x20AC;? it said.

Oil price rises modest Petrol increased 4 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, from 3,800 riels (US$0.91) to 3,950 riels per litre, while diesel was up 4.6 percent rising from 3,300 riels to 3,450 riels per litre.

Over the same period, crude prices have fallen slightly on the international market â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the source of all Cambodiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oil products â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from about $70 a barrel to just over $67 a barrel Wednesday in Singapore.

Cambodiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inflation has cooled since the third quarter of last year, when it was running at a peak of more than 20 percent year on year following huge increases in food prices that led the government to express concern over food security in the Kingdom.

Following the onset of the economic crisis in Cambodia in the last quarter, prices then began to fall.

San Sy Than, director of the National Institute of Statistics, the organisation that compiles CPI data, told the Post Wednesday that inflation is likely to return in the coming months. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the last quarter of 2009, we expect it to be positive [year on year],â&#x20AC;? he said.

Mobitel CONTINUED FROM PAGE > 1 â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are having a number of discussions,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everybody wants to talk to us.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of interest.â&#x20AC;?

Mobitel CEO Jeffrey Noble also refused to comment Wednesday, saying he was â&#x20AC;&#x153;not interested in talking to the press todayâ&#x20AC;? before hanging up the phone.

Royal Group representatives also declined to comment when approached at the Hotel Cambodiana on Wednesday as the two groups adjourned for lunch.

A spokesman for France Telecom said by phone from Paris that the group â&#x20AC;&#x153;could not comment on market rumours or confirm that any specific meetings are being held in Cambodia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, as part of our published mergers and acquisitions policy, France Telecom regularly looks for strategic investments in growth markets,â&#x20AC;? he said. In this context, the Group hold regular reviews and discussions with potential partners in Southeast Asian countries.â&#x20AC;?

The company has a â&#x20AC;&#x153;fairly minorâ&#x20AC;? presence in Vietnam, he added.

Giles Vernet, a French embassy economic counsellor who, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, is set to meet the delegation today, initially denied the company was in Cambodia.

When told representatives had been seen at the Hotel Cambodiana with the Royal Group, he refused to comment and directed questions to Laurence Bernardi, the press attache at the French embassy.

She said the embassy did not comment on commercial matters.

Royal Group has also been linked to talks with Axiata Group Berhad, the Malaysian owner of Cambodian mobile phone operator Hello, on a joint purchase of the stake, according to a source close to the situation. It is understood that the Royal Group offered the company a majority stake in Mobitel after its initial offer of a minority holding was declined.

CEO Simon Perkins declined Wednesday to confirm or deny specifics as to the discussions between the two groups, though he confirmed

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the parties were in communication. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We keep the dialogue open with the Royal Group, so any options are always going to be evaluated and looked at,â&#x20AC;? he said.

He also did not rule out Axiata making a second bid for the operator in the event that the Royal Group was unable to raise the money needed to complete the sale. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our interest hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t waned from the first time we got in the process. We werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a successful bidder for whatever reason, so that process is over for us. But if it comes back on, then for sure, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be there.

I would never say never, but it just depends on the price point.â&#x20AC;?

An Axiata spokesperson said by email from Malaysia that the company did â&#x20AC;&#x153;not comment on rumours or stories which are speculative in natureâ&#x20AC;?.

He had previously confirmed the group had bid for the stake when it was first put up for sale, but declined to confirm a July 7 Bloomberg report that it offered $500 million.

Royal Group has also been linked to talks with NTT DoCoMo of Japan. Media reports have confirmed that DoCoMo are interested as they look to overseas markets for expansion. However, the outcome of these discussions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and whether they are still taking place at all â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is not known.

Royal Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hanna travelled to China last month, though it was not clear whether it was related to the Mobitel sale.

The Royal Group also met last month with fund managers from Jersey, a tax haven in the British Channel Islands, to raise capital for the acquisition, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The source said the group was seeking to raise $270 million but could not come to an agreement on the terms of any investment. Investors from Hong Kong were also at the meeting, the source said.

The Mobitel sale is being organised through Goldman Sachs. A spokesperson for the investment bank in Hong Kong declined to say when the deadline was for The Royal Group to deliver the cash to complete the purchase, directing all enquiries to the companies concerned, although Hanna said the group had until the end of the year. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STEVE FINCH

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

BUSINESS VN keeps benchmark interest rate at 7pc HANOI – Vietnam’s central bank plans to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 7 percent, the lowest since at least December 2005, to strengthen the economy.

“The Vietnamese economy continues to show positive developments and clear signs of a recovery,” State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau said in a statement on the bank’s Web site Wednesday, which gave the rate decision.

Vietnam cut its key rate six times from October to January to spur economic growth.

Gross domestic product expanded 5.8 percent in the third quarter, up from 4.5 percent in the previous three months, the Hanoi-based General Statistics Office said Tuesday.

The government is focusing more on boosting economic expansion this year than on easing inflation, President Nguyen Minh Triet said last week.

Annual inflation accelerated for the first time in more than a year to 2.4 percent in September because of government stimulus spending to revive economic growth.

The country’s “balanced” approach to economic development has allowed it to curb inflation, Triet said in an interview in New York. “In the course of boosting economic growth, we keep a constant watch over inflation.”

Markets fall on rates news The benchmark VN Index of stocks declined 0.3 percent to close at 580.9 Wednesday. The measure has rallied 29.6 percent since June 30, after surging 59.7 percent in the second quarter. The dong has depreciated 0.2 percent this quarter.

The key rate is at the lowest since at least December 2005, when the central bank started using interest rates more actively to control inflation.

Policy makers raised the benchmark rate to as high as 14 percent in October after inflation quickened to 28.3 percent, the fastest in Asia, in August 2008. BLOOMBERG

9

in BRIEF China loans hit $90b

l SHANGHAI – New loans by

Chinese banks likely exceeded 600 billion yuan (US$87.8 billion) in September, reports said Wednesday, as lenders continued to pump money into the country’s economic recovery effort. The four major state-run banks – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China – extended new loans worth around 200 billion yuan as of September 25, the China Business News reported. AFP

US confidence slips l WASHINGTON – US

Charging back up A journalist looks at Honda Motor Co’s Skydeck concept hybrid vehicle displayed Friday during a media preview for the Tokyo Motor Show 2009.

Honda is to display a battery-powered concept car at this month’s show, suggesting the company may widen its range of alternative-energy vehicles beyond gasoline-electric and hydrogen power. Honda stopped selling electric cars in 2000. BLOOMBERG

Japanese production climbs for a sixth straight month August 1.8pc increase marks longest run of gains in 12 years

by Jason Clenfield and Tatsuo Ito

J

APANESE manufacturers increased production for a sixth month in August, capping the longest stretch of gains in 12 years, as emergency spending by governments worldwide rekindled global trade.

Factory output rose 1.8 percent last month after climbing 2.1 percent in July, the Trade Ministry said Wednesday.

Firms said they plan to raise output by 1.1 percent this month and 2.2 percent in October, Wednesday’s report showed. Manufacturers including Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd are hiring workers to meet higher demand as production rebounds from a record collapse in the first quarter.

“We’re not going to fall back into recession, but these production increases don’t bring us back to where we started,” said Yoshiki Shinke, senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. “You’ve still got a lot of excess capacity.”

these production increases don’t bring us back to where we started.”

The Bank of Japan this month raised its assessment of the economy, saying it’s “showing signs of recovery.” Governor Masaaki Shirakawa tempered his policy board’s optimism by warning that the forces driving the rebound – inventory restocking and government stimulus – may only be temporary.

The yen’s 7 percent appreciation against the US dollar in the past quarter may have also slowed the production recovery as it eats into exporter profits.

The currency’s “current level around 90 yen is a bit painful”, Toyota Motor Corp Executive Vice President Yukitoshi Funo said on Friday. “I think the yen should be a little weaker.”

Toyota is among companies increasing output overseas, rather than at home, in part to avoid currency losses.

“We try to build as many vehicles as possible wherever we can. One of the key reasons is to offset the currency,” said Tokyo-based spokesman Paul Nolasco.

The world’s largest automaker said last month it will shut an assembly line at one of its

domestic plants next year and shift some engine production to a factory in Alabama. The automaker increased global production 4.7 percent in August from a year earlier, while domestic output was still 23.8 percent lower.

Other companies are boosting their domestic workforce to meet rising orders from overseas. Fuji Heavy said this month it is hiring 100 temporary workers in Japan, the first increase in 10 months, to meet demand in China and the United States.

Signs of improvements in the economy and private funding may compel the Bank of Japan to decide as soon as next month to let its emergency corporate-debt buying programmes expire, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions. BLOOMBERG

consumer confidence fell slightly in September as worries about a tight job market overshadowed improving economic conditions, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The consumer confidence index, which had improved in August, dipped in September to 53.1 from 54.5 in August. The figure was weaker than the 57.0 expected on Wall Street and suggested consumers may be cautious in resuming spending. BLOOMBERG

ICBC eyes ACL Bank l BEIJING – Industrial &

Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the world’s largest by value, said it plans to make a tender offer to buy Thailand’s ACL Bank Pcl for as much as 18.3 billion baht (US$544 million). Bangkok Bank Pcl has agreed to sell its 19.3 percent stake in ACL to the Beijing-based lender for 3.5 billion baht, or 11.5 baht per share, ICBC said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Tuesday.

BLOOMBERG

Court threatens PTT l BANGKOK – PTT Pcl,

Thailand’s biggest energy company, may have 25 projects from its subsidiaries and affiliates suspended following a court injunction, Chief Financial Officer Tevin Vongvanich said.

The firm will speak with government agencies to find ways to reduce the impact from the court’s decision and may challenge the ruling, Tevin said Wednesday. PTT’s suspended projects are among 76, mostly in Rayong province, shut down by a Thai court for creating pollution.

BLOOMBERG

10

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

BUSINESS

West China reaps stimulus benefits After decades of strong growth on China’s eastern seaboard, now it’s the turn of the centre and west of the country to prosper as stimulus spending from Beijing reaches the heartland

by KEVIN HAMLIN BEIJING

no stops for holidays. The firm was this month named

by Forbes magazine as one of Asia’s 200 small- to mediumsized companies with the greatest opportunities for growth.

T

HE biggest winners from China’s US$586 billion economic stimulus are emerging more than 1,000 kilometres from Shanghai in the factories and stores of Chengdu and Xian.

“Now it’s our turn” for development, says Li Chunjie, a 63year-old retired public servant surveying a construction plot for the future subway system of Xian, the biggest city in central China. Next to the site: the Chang An Metropolis Centre, featuring Gucci and Ermenegildo Zegna designer-fashion stores. “Look at all the work they’re doing on the city now,” he says.

As China’s communist regime celebrates its 60th anniversary today, spending aimed at combating the slowest national growth in almost a decade has sparked an investment boom in central and western provinces. That’s increasing opportunities for jobs and income gains for 700 million people in an area from Anhui, upriver from Shanghai, to Xinjiang on the Pakistani frontier.

The global recession and

Crisis creates opportunity

Workers perform maintenance last week at the West China Cement Ltd plant in Xian, Shaanxi province. The spending boom in China has helped the factory boost production to 8 million tonnes. BLOOMBERG

unprecedented government investment have reversed a three-decade trend of China’s coastal export centres leading its expansion, job creation and income gains. The west’s 9.3 percent annual growth pace in the first half of 2009 outstripped a 6.5 percent rate

for the seaboard.

“China’s growth is shifting west,” says Nick Lord, a banking analyst in Hong Kong at Macquarie Securities Ltd, a unit of Australia’s biggest investment bank. Government spending in China’s interior increased 47 percent in the first quarter

from a year earlier, outpacing the 33 percent rise in the east, Macquarie estimates.

The investment in transportation networks and buildings means that West China Cement Ltd’s Lantian Yaobai cement factory, outside of Xian, operates 24 hours a day, with

“What was bad for the world was good for us and China’s inland,” says Low Poling, finance director at the Xian-based company, whose profit more than doubled this year to 186.9 million yuan ($27 million) compared with 2008. “This is just the starting point.”

As global trade flows declined, China suffered a 10month slide in exports, damping growth in the east and pulling the nationwide expansion rate down to 6.1 percent in the first quarter, the slowest pace in almost a decade. The government is using its 4 trillion yuan stimulus and record bank lending to build railways, roads and power plants, mostly in the less-developed west and centre of the country.

The accelerating development lured JPMorgan Chase & Co to open in September its first branch in western China, in Chengdu, Sichuan. The second-biggest US bank, which is

based in New York, was drawn to the area’s “tremendous industrial base”, according to Lisa Robins, who is head of treasury and security services at the company and leads its Chinese branch-expansion efforts.

“Sooner than five years from now, the centre of China will have a thriving financial centre supporting the manufacturing sector and other industries,” says Robins, who works from Beijing. “Chengdu and Sichuan is just an amazing booming economy that is the gateway to the southwest.”

Businesses are counting on the government investments and current spurt in growth to generate a sustained expansion and advance in household purchasing power after the fiscal impetus fades in 2010. BLOOMBERG

Stimulus goes west 47pc increase in government spending in central China compared to 33pc rise in east 9.3pc Q1 GDP rise in west compared to 6.5pc on seaboard 50pc increase in factory investment in west in first eight months. Up 27pc in the east.

Source: Bloomberg

Investment fund eyes profit in mangamania Music Securities, which invests in Cambodian microfinance, plans latest of 65 global funds TOKYO – Music Securities Inc, a Japanese music production and fund management firm, will start a fund investing in products from the “Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro” animation series featuring a graveyard-dwelling, one-eyed demon boy.

The Tokyo-based firm plans to raise 10 million yen (US$111,000) to 30 million yen for the Yokai Fund, named after the Japanese word for demon, said Masami Komatsu, chief executive officer of Music Securities in Tokyo. Komatsu is raising money from individuals via the Internet to finance merchandise including cups, fans and ties based on Kitaro characters created by writer and illustrator Shigeru Mizuki.

Founded by Komatsu in 2001, Music Securities has set up about 65 funds raising about 500 million yen through the Internet to invest in artists, sake brewers and microfinance in Cambodia’s CHC Ltd. The firm is tapping the interests of individual investors and betting on small companies and individuals with business plans that banks may be reluctant to fund.

“It’s becoming harder to preserve what’s left of culture and regionalism of Japan nowadays, and we wanted to somehow help those who are

struggling to maintain that tradition,” Komatsu, 34, said in an interview in Tokyo Monday.

“We wanted to offer a place where individuals can invest in not just financial securities, but businesses that are in need of capital but can’t get it from financial institutions.”

Banks are less likely to back such ventures after costs for bad loans more than tripled at Japan’s three largest banks and doubled at smaller regional institutions last fiscal year. Lending growth slowed in August for an eighth straight month.

Characters like Kitaro, who fights for peace between people and demons, are household names in Japan and are gaining popularity worldwide in manga comics. The Japanese government is promoting the nation’s manga and animation creators abroad in its “Cool Japan” campaign.

“The fund could potentially attract overseas capital, given that Japanese animation has been highly regarded abroad,” said Haruhiro Nakano, president of Saison Asset Management in Tokyo. “It goes against the whole idea of funds just chasing after money, but rather the proceeds will go to revitalising a region, so I’m going to be watching closely to see whether it will succeed.” BLOOMBERG

11

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

WORLD At least 113 dead as tsunami, quake flatten Samoan towns Waves up to 7.5 metres high follow major earthquake, with residents running for high ground from ‘totally destroyed’ oceanside resorts and fishing villages

A

PIA, Samoa – Toweringtsunamischurned up by a huge earthquake slammed into the Samoan islands on Tuesday, killing at least 113 people as they wiped out entire villages and flattened tourist resorts.

Monster waves that witnesses and officials said measured between three and 7.5 metres high pounded the remote Pacific islands of Samoa and Western Samoa after an 8.0magnitude undersea quake struck in the early morning.

While the quake toppled buildings and sent thousands fleeing to high ground as the tsunami approached, many others were hit by the walls of water that swept people and cars out to sea and obliterated coastal settlements.

US President Barack Obama called the incident in the outlying US territory of American Samoa a “major disaster” and vowed “aggressive” action to help survivors.

“I am closely monitoring these tragic events and have declared a major disaster for American Samoa, which will provide the tools necessary for a full, swift and aggressive response,” he said.

Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said he was “shocked beyond belief”.

“So much has gone. So many people are gone,” he told the Australian news agency AAP. “I’m so shocked, so saddened by all the loss.”

The tsunamis swept across the Pacific, battering Samoa where hospital workers said it killed at least 84 people, American Samoa where it felled 22, and Tonga, where at least seven people died.

Overturned and damaged vehicles are shown on Tuesday in Pago Pago, American Samoa, after an 8.0-magnitude quake struck offshore in the early morning. afp

As Australia, New Zealand and the United States led with immediate pledges of assistance, scores more people were missing feared dead in the chaos and despair that the twin disaster left in its wake.

“We are getting reports of missing people in areas where damage is extensive on the south and southeast coasts,” local journalist Jona Tuiletufuga told AFP. “Entire villages have been wiped out.”

Up to 70 villages stood in the way of the waves in the worsthit area, and each housed from 300 to 800 people, Tuiletufuga said.

Nine members of one family were killed in the village of Lalomanu on the southeast of Samoa, a relative said.

“My family own the Taufua

Beach Fales, and we have confirmation that nine members of our family have perished, four of them children, and many more missing,” the be-

It could take a week or so before we know the full extent.” reaved relative told Australia’s public broadcaster.

“The tourists haven’t been accounted for either.”

Amateur video footage showed villages that had been completely obliterated, homes reduced to shards of metal and wood, while cars were stuck in treetops where they had been hurled by the force of the tsunami.

Samoa’s deputy prime minister Misa Telefoni said his tiny country’s tourism hotspot was “devastated” by the tsunami which left residents and holidaymakers with little time to flee.

“We’ve heard that most of the resorts are totally devastated on that side of the island. We’ve had a pretty grim picture painted of all that coast,” he said.

Two of the country’s most popular resorts, Sinalei Reef Resort and Coconuts Beach Resort, off the west coast of the main island of Upolu, had been hit hard, he told AAP. Australia said at least two of its citizens, including a 6-yearold girl, were dead, and South Korea said two of its citizens had perished. One person from New Zealand was also

feared dead.

Apia, capital of the independent state of Samoa and nearly 3,000km from Auckland in New Zealand, was evacuated as officials scrambled to get thousands of residents to higher ground.

Officials in American Samoa, about 100km from Samoa, said the death toll of 22 was expected to climb.

“It could take a week or so before we know the full extent,” Michael Sala, Homeland Security director in American Samoa, told AFP. Waves up to 7.5 metres high did most of the damage as they swept ashore about 20 minutes after the earthquake, demolishing buildings in coastal areas, he said.

Witnesses said cars were swept out to sea and buildings destroyed in what the US territory’s congressional delegate said was a scene of “devastation”.

The eastern part of the island was without power and water supplies after the devastating earthquake, which struck at 6:48am (12:48am Cambodian time) at a depth of 18 kilometres, 195 kilometres south of Apia.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami alert over a vast swathe of the Pacific, as far as Hawaii, which was later cancelled.

The walls of moving water were so powerful that small tsunami waves were able to reach the shores of Japan thousands of kilometres away.

The United States, Australia and New Zealand all made preparations to send emergency help to the ravaged region that is home to more than 241,000 people. AFP

What’s New

Four killed in Thailand  YALA – Suspected Islamic

militants shot dead four more people in southern Thailand, police said Wednesday, bringing to nine the civilian death toll in the troubled region over three days. In the latest in a series of attacks targeting civilians, gunmen in a pick-up truck followed a Muslim local government chief and shot him dead in Narathiwat province on Wednesday, also injuring another man, police said. AFP

Graft law challenged  JAKARTA

– Indonesian activists said Wednesday they would challenge a controversial new law that they say threatens to weaken the nation’s highly successful anti-corruption court.

“There are several clauses of the law that need to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court, particularly on the composition of the panel of judges,” Febri Diansyah from Indonesian Corruption Watch said. AFP

Quake rocks Sumatra  JAKARTA – A powerful

7.6-magnitude quake struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra island Wednesday but no tsunami warning was issued, the country’s geophysics and meteorology agency said. The quake struck at sea at 5:16pm 78 kilometres southwest of Padang city in West Sumatra province, the agency said on its Web site.

AFP

US drone claims six

 PESHAWAR, Pakistan – At

least six militants were killed Wednesday in a US drone missile attack in northwest Pakistan, security officials said, in the third such strike on Taliban strongholds in 24 hours. The latest attack struck in the lawless tribal region of North Waziristan, a Taliban bolthole where Washington says Islamist fighters are hiding out and planning attacks on Western troops stationed in neighbouring Afghanistan. AFP

12

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

world UN high official won’t return to Afghanistan after quarrel with boss Deputy special envoy fought over fraud claims in the presidential election, with the subordinate taking a more aggressive tack, UN source says KABUL – The deputy UN special envoy to Afghanistan will not be returning to his post in Kabul following a row with his boss over the country’s fraudtainted election, a UN official said Wednesday.

Peter Galbraith, who left Kabul earlier this month after a dispute over how fraud allegations in the election should be dealt with, “won’t be coming back to Kabul”, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It was not clear whether Galbraith, an American, had been sacked from his post, which he had only held for a few months, or he would be moved to another position within the United Nations.

UN officials in Kabul told AFP that Galbraith’s status was unclear.

“We’re aware of the reports, and an announcement of this nature would come from the secretary general’s office in New York,” spokesman Dan McNorton said.

“At this stage there has been no announcement,” he added.

The BBC’s website quoted an email it said had been received from Galbraith, in which he said: “The secretary general

appointed me and has not fired me so far as I know.”

Differences between Galbraith and the UN’s special representative to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, became public earlier this month, when Galbraith abruptly left Kabul to return to the United States.

Diplomatic sources in Kabul said at the time that Galbraith and Eide, a Norwegian, had differed in their approach to dealing with the allegations of widespread fraud tainting Afghanistan’s August 20 presidential election.

The anonymous UN official Wednesday described Galbraith as more aggressive in his approach to dealing with the allegations, which have been principally aimed at President Hamid Karzai, who leads preliminary results with almost 55 percent of the valid vote.

His nearest rival, Abdullah Abdullah – who has been loudest in accusing Karzai of orchestrated vote-rigging – trails on around 28 percent.

About 10 percent of the ballot is being recounted and audited, in the hope of having a final result by October 7, officials close to the process say. AFP

Honduran unions protest official curbs on civil rights Supporters of ousted president prepare for another gathering amid clampdown on freedom of political speech and assembly

by Sophie Nicholson TEGUCIGALPA, honduras

P

RESSURE is mounting on Honduras’ de facto leaders to overturn curbs on civil rights that have split the regime’s backers as it faces a fresh day of protests on Wednesday.

Suporters of ousted president Manuel Zelaya are expected to head back onto the streets Wednesday, defying coup leaders who are drawing fire from allied lawmakers over measures limiting the rights to demonstrate and free speech.

Union leaders said they would again mass outside a radio station closed by leader Roberto Micheletti, who has sought to stem revolt among his de facto government by saying he could rescind the measures to allow for November presidential polls.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday that the new clampdown had heightened tensions in the Central American nation.

He added that threats on the Brazilian embassy, where Zelaya is holed up, were “unacceptable.”

A member of the anti-drug police unit walks Tuesday in front of soldiers nearby the besieged Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.​​​​​​​afp

Brazil defended its hosting of the ousted leader in its embassy in Honduras and insisted it had not helped him to return home secretly last week.

VACANCY NOTICE

KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA NATIONAL RELIGION KING

Connecting Cambodia to a World of Development Experience UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.

“Cambodians living with dignity in a prosperous society at peace, based on justice, free choices and equitable access to productive resources” The United Nations Development Programme in Cambodia is looking for qualified, experienced, and results-oriented candidates to fill below positions: Job Title Project Contract Type

: : :

Project Assistant Strengthening Democracy and Electoral Processes (SDEP) Service Contract (SB-3)

Under the overall guidance of Project Manager, the Project Assistants provide project support services ensuring high quality, accuracy and consistency of work. S/he will work in close collaboration with Project Teams, and national counterparts in the designated areas, Country Office (CO) and UNDP Head Quarter (HQ) as required to exchanging information and support project delivery.

SELECTION CRITERIA: • University degree in Political Sciences, Social Sciences/Law or relevant discipline.

• Three years of relevant project support experiences are required.

• Previous experience in election processes and election communication programs is highly desirable.

• Experience in report writing and correspondence • Fluency in English is required; Job Title Project Contract Type

: : :

Driver General Services Unit Service Contract (SB-1)

Under the guidance and supervision of the direct supervisor and Administrative Officer, the Driver provides reliable and safe driving services ensuring high accuracy of work. The Driver demonstrates a client-oriented approach, high sense of responsibility, courtesy, tact and the ability to work with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

The Driver provides driving services to the operations and programme staff in the CO, Consultants and Experts and UN staff on mission.

SELECTION CRITERIA: • Completed Secondary Education • Hold valid driver’s license • Two years’ work experience as a driver, safe driving record, knowledge of driving rules and regulations and skills in minor vehicle repair.

• Knowledge of English language Detailed Term of Reference (ToRs), competency requirements and selection criteria are available online at http://www.un.org.kh/undp/jobs. Please submit all your application documents (including P-11) online and state in your application letter how you meet the selection criteria specified in the announcements. This vacancy is open to Cambodian applicants. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for written competency test and/or interview. UNDP will contact references directly. UNDP is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse workforce with staff from minorities and disadvantaged groups. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Deadline: 12 October 2009

A cordon of anti-riot police on Tuesday blocked hundreds of Zelaya supporters in a university in the capital from marching to the Brazilian em-

bassy.

“I call the resistance on the streets to demand that the closed media outlets go back on air,” Zelaya told a news conference, after security forces stormed the two main opposition media outlets Monday.

As politics played out angrily on the streets, those in the corridors of power appeared noT to rule out a peaceful solution to the crisis.

A Honduran army chief suggested that efforts to resolve the deadlock sparked by the June 28 coup were advancing despite the apparent tough positions being taken by both sides.

Meanwhile Costa Rican President Oscar Arias appealed to the international community to help the elections take place, to avoid isolating Honduras.

Some of the regime’s backers began to talk of possible compromise, based on the plan.

Several business leaders said for the first time that they would accept Zelaya’s return to the presidency, but only if his powers were restricted, he responded to the charges against him, and a multinational force oversaw a handover from Micheletti. AFP

Recruitment Announcement MINISTRY OF COMMERCE

50-60 People to Arbitrate Commercial Disputes for Na�onal Arbitra�on Center of Cambodia (NAC)

In accordance with Sub-Decree No. 124 ANKR/BT on the Organiza�on and Func�oning of the Na�onal Arbitra�on Center of Cambodia (NAC), dated August 21, 2009, the Incep�on and Selec�on Commission, chaired by the Ministry of Commerce, is recrui�ng fi�y (50) to sixty (60) applicants to be the first arbitrators of the NAC. Provided they meet the qualifica�ons listed below, applicants can be either gender and Cambodian or foreign na�onals.

Qualifica�ons a. The applicant must fulfill the following criteria: − age (30) years or more; − possess a Bachelor’s Degree in any subject from a local or foreign university; and − have at least three (3) years working experience.

If lacking the qualifica�ons specified above, the applicant must: − be a member of a professional commercial arbitra�on ins�tu�on, recognized by the Commission; or − have served as an arbitrator or representa�ve in commercial arbitra�on proceedings on at least three (3) or more occasions, or have wri�en at least three (3) or more arbitral awards while serving as an arbitrator in commercial disputes. b. Applicant must not: − be an officer of any execu�ve, legisla�ve or judicial branch of the Royal Government of Cambodia − have been convicted of any misdemeanor or felony c. A total of not less than fi�y (50) commercial arbitrators shall registered as arbitrators of the NAC a�er they successfully completed the arbitra�on skills training organized by the Commission.

Applica�on Process Applica�ons will be accepted during working hours, star�ng from September 29, 2009 up to 1700 Hours on October 20, 2009. The Commission will stop accep�ng applica�ons once it has received 60 qualified applica�ons.

For applica�on forms, further informa�on and submission of applica�ons, please contact the Incep�on and Selec�on Commission’s Secretariat located in Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, or visit the Ministry of Commerce’s homepage at www.moc.gov.kh.

Commission for organizing and selecting the first Arbitrators

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

world Police recommend residents stay home and watch the parade on TV to avoid complications, with those along its route told to stay inside with windows shut

Beijing comes to a standstill for China’s 60th anniversary

by Dan Martin beijing

C

HINA launched a massive shutdown of bustling central BeijingWednesday on the eve of a spectacular celebration of 60 years of Communist rule, with authorities determined to leave nothing to chance.

The Forbidden City and other key landmarks around the Chinese capital’s Tiananmen Square were closed, and city residents hurried to tie up loose ends at work before a wide swathe of the capital was completely blocked off.

At least 100,000 people will take part Thursday in National Day festivities centering on the square that will laud China’s revival as a world economic, military and political power.

Spearheading the gala will be a military parade with some of the latest-generation homegrown weaponry, in what experts say will be a statement to the world that China must be taken seriously.

Amid unrest in ethnic minority regions like Xinjiang and Tibet, authorities have imposed some of the tightest security in the capital’s history in recent weeks.

Major roads including the parade route on the Avenue of Eternal Peace – Beijing’s central thoroughfare – and parts of the subway system were to be shut down later in the day.

“People should finish up early and go home or they might encounter problems.

That’s what we are telling pedestrians,” said Xiao Matian, a volunteer traffic guard.

A heightened security presence could be seen along the parade route, with police on patrol, some approaches to the avenue sealed off with police tape, and many of an estimated 800,000 red-sashed security “volunteers” out in force.

China typically holds grand celebrations every 10 years to

commemorate revolutionary leader Mao Zedong’s October 1, 1949, proclamation of the founding of the People’s Republic of China at Tiananmen.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told journalists on Wednesday that the event would showcase “a China which has strong confidence in its future”.

But authorities have gone to extreme lengths to ensure that nothing goes wrong this year – even banning the flying of pigeons and kites, and declaring war on pests at Tiananmen

People should finish up early and go home or they might encounter problems.”

Square, where a new portrait of Mao has been hung.

Beggars and the homeless have been cleared out and knife sales temporarily banned in at least some capital-area stores after two recent stabbing attacks near Tiananmen Square that state media said left two dead and 14 injured.

The high security is expected to render Thursday’s gala a made-for-TV event for the vast majority of Beijing’s citizens.

“Police suggest that Beijing residents try not to go out on October 1 to avoid complications. They recommend the public watch the celebrations live on TV,” the China Daily newspaper said.

Hotels near Tiananmen Square told AFP they had stopped accepting foreign guests, in line with a government order, and residents living on the parade route have been ordered to stay off balconies and keep windows shut.

State media said last week China would even deploy aircraft to spray cloud dispersal chemicals to prevent the weather from raining on its parade. AFP

Chinese police man a street corner on Chang’An Avenue (Avenue of Eternal Peace) east of Tiananmen Square on a smoggy day in Beijing on Wednesday. AFP

13

Myanmar sanctions must stay: US senator WASHINGTON – The United States cannot “even consider” easing sanctions on Myanmar until the military-led country has freed all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, a top US senator said Tuesday.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also said the punitive measures should remain in force unless Myanmar holds free and fair elections in 2010 that include opposition and ethnic groups.

“There remain two significant tests of whether or not Burma’s relationship with the United States has improved to the degree that we should even consider moving away from a policy of sanctions,” McConnell said in a statement, using the country’s former name.

“The United States must also insist that Burma comply with its international obligations and end any prohibited military or proliferation related cooperation with North Korea,” the senator said.

His comments came as the US state department said that, as part of a new policy of engagement, one of its top diplomats would meet Tuesday with a delegation from Myanmar on the margins of the UN General Assembly.

State department spokesman Philip Crowley said at a press briefing in Washington that Kurt Campbell, assistant US secretary of state for Asia, was to meet in New York today with a delegation headed by Myanmar’s science and technology minister, U Thaung.

Myanmar’s UN representative, U Than Swe, is also expected to participate.

The meeting comes after the United States announced Monday it was starting a dialogue with the military-led Myanmar, though it insisted it would keep sanctions in place until the regime makes progress on democracy.

On Monday, Campbell announced that President Barack Obama’s administration had decided to reengage Myanmar after years of stalemate proved unproductive.

AFP

14

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

world

One-third of historic Hoi An US envoy says NKorea submerged after typhoon North Korea describes any expectations that it would agree to denuclearise ahead of the South as a ‘pipe dream’, echoing comments to the UN

should take advantage of ‘grand bargain’ offer

Tourist town’s old quarter accessible only by boat, as flood zone evacuated in what’s being called worst disaster in a decade

SEOUL – A top US envoy urged North Korea on Wednesday to seize a “tremendous opportunity” and return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks, but Pyongyang’s official media said it was up to Washington to resolve the issue.

“There is a tremendous opportunity now for them to take a constructive measure,” US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told reporters, asked whether the North shows any sign of returning to the sixparty forum it quit in April.

“They’ve certainly given some indications that they understand the value of re-engagement,” Steinberg said, after talks with South Korean officials during a five-nation regional tour.

“We would like to see them take advantage of that.”

Steinberg reiterated Washington’s stance that it is willing to hold direct talks with Pyongyang but only to bring it back to the six-nation forum.

“It’s important for North Korea to make clear that it’s prepared to engage on those terms,” he said.

The talks group the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. Pyongyang quit the forum in protest at United Nations censure of its long-range rocket launch on April 5.

It staged a second atomic weapons test in May, incurring stronger UN sanctions supported even by its closest ally, China.

The North wants direct talks with Washington on the nuclear standoff.

“The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula should be settled between the DPRK [North Korea] and the US from every aspect, as it is a product

Filling station workers caught by floods sit next to submerged cars following the passage of the Typhoon Ketsana in Hoi An on Wednesday. afp

of the latter’s hostile policy toward the former,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary.

The agency, echoing the North’s comments to the UN general assembly Monday, said it was a “pipe dream” to expect it to denuclearise until the US changes its policy.

“The nuclear issue can find a

There is a tremendous opportunity now for them to take a constructive measure.” genuine solution only when the whole Korean peninsula and the rest of the world are denuclearised,” it added.

Steinberg, who has visited Vietnam, Malaysia and China and goes on to Japan later Wednesday, said six-party members had no differences on how to proceed.

He denied any divergence with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who this month proposed a “grand bargain” with the North.

This would involve massive aid and security guarantees in return for denuclearisation, rather than the step-by-step measures of the past.

“What we all agree is that we’ve lived through the history before of partial measures and reversible measures,” Steinberg said. “What we need is a comprehensive and definitive resolution of the nuclear question.”

The KCNA commentary derided the “grand bargain” as “rubbish” and said Lee is trying to obstruct a solution between Washington and Pyongyang.

Lee said separately that Seoul should make its voice heard in nuclear negotiations.

by Tran Thi Minh Ha hoi an, vietnam

H

UNDREDS of years of history have survived in the pastelcoloured old buildings of Hoi An, which have managed to outlast wars and numerous natural disasters.

But the historic town, whose streets are normally packed with foreign tourists, on Wednesday was flooded by about 3 metres of water and could be facing its biggest disaster in a decade or more, officials said.

The picturesque narrow streets of tightly packed old temples, shophouses, craft shops and restaurants were submerged in filthy brown water that some foreign tourists waded through with their

belongings.

“This flooding might be bigger than the historic floods in 1999. We think the water could reach even 3.5 metres,” said Nguyen Su, Communist Party chief in the town which UNESCO named a World Heritage site a decade ago, the same year as the floods.

The old quarter was cut off and accessible only by boat. A major bridge linking the tourist area to another part of town was cracked, forcing people to cross in single file, an AFP reporter saw.

Hoi An, a former trading port dating from the 15th century, is along the coast in central Vietnam near the heart of the area devastated on Tuesday by Typhoon Ketsana.

One-third of the town has been inundated, said Le Van

Philippines braces for more storms Just days after then-tropical storm Ketsana killed at least 246 people, authorities sound alarm over another storm brewing to the east of the islands, expected to make landfall today or Friday

by Jason Gutierrez MANILA

Philippine flood survivors were warned Wednesday to brace for another potentially deadly storm, as the number of people affected by the heaviest rains in decades soared past 2.2 million.

Four days after Tropical Storm Ketsana ravaged Manila and neighbouring areas, parts of the nation’s capital remained submerged in murky water, while people crowding into shelters were desperate for food, water and other aid.

The storm killed at least 246 people, although the number is expected to rise higher than the official toll as many people remain missing.

Amid the chaos of the relief operation, authorities warned

A child holds relief goods distributed Wednesday by the Red Cross to flood survivors in Manila. afp

that another storm lurking to the east of the Philippines could slam into the country today or Friday.

“We still don’t know how big this typhoon will be, but the best way for us is to prepare for the worst case scenario,” said the secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, Gwendolyn Pang.

Pang said those still in their

flood-ruined homes should evacuate to government-run shelters.

Meanwhile, anger and hunger among the flood survivors continued to build, with the government appealing for calm after people blocked food convoys, apparently because they were missing out on the relief.

“We are receiving reports that some relief goods, especially those from private donors, are being blocked by people or are being pelted,” Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on national radio.

While appealing for calm, he warned that anyone caught blocking food convoys would be arrested.

“We understand many are hungry. All of us are working to feed you, and help those in need,” Teodoro said.

“[But] we will not allow this thing to happen, even in a crisis.”

Private individuals and companies who want to donate relief goods were advised to coordinate with the national government, while police have been asked to provide additional security escorts to delivery trucks, he said.

In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said 2.25 million people had been affected by the floods, up about 300,000 from the previous day.

Of the total affected, 389,616 people were crammed into 561 evacuation camps around Manila and its eastern regions.

Another 346,581 people were staying with their relatives or friends, the council said. AFP

Giang, president of the Hoi An People’s Committee, or local government. He said the flooding could even exceed 1999 levels and match that of 45 years ago.

“We didn’t know a typhoon was coming, so we were stuck here,” said Jenny Milton, a German tourist who had just escaped by boat from the old quarter, where the first floor of her hotel had been flooded.

“People were very nice. We still had coffee and food, and they organised stuff so we could get out,” she said.

Su, the local official, estimated about 6,000 Vietnamese and foreign tourists remained in the town, but he said all had been moved out of the flood zone.

“I ensure there are no more foreign tourists in flooded ar-

eas,” Su said.

Tran Thanh Hai, a visitor from Ho Chi Minh City, said the water poured into his hotel “very quickly”.

Local residents said water had reached halfway to the ceiling on the ground floor of their homes.

“We are used to this kind of flooding, but this one is worse than in 2006,” said Nguyen Thi Huong, 59, who was shopping in the local market, where some prices had doubled.

A local policeman was organising boat trips to deliver food and water to residents still stuck in the old quarter.

“Many are still there, to look after their houses. They are all on the second floor,” said the officer, who would not give his name. AFP

Abu Sayyaf blamed for killing of US soldiers ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – The Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group is believed to have placed a roadside bomb that killed two US soldiers in the southern Philippines, a Filipino military commander said Wednesday.

“We are suspecting that the Abu Sayyaf is behind the attack,” said regional military chief Major General Dolorfino.

The two US soldiers and a Filipino marine were killed Tuesday when a device placed on a dirt road in Indanan town, Jolo province, exploded, destroying the Humvee vehicle they were riding in.

It was the worst attack against US troops in the southern Philippines since 2001 when Washington began helping local forces stamp out the Abu Sayyaf.

Dolorfino said security had

been increased and land travel to bring development aid to villages in the area had been suspended, with helicopters to be used in the meantime.

The US embassy in Manila said the US soldiers were noncombatants and were on a supply run for a school-construction project when the explosion took place. But it would not say who was responsible.

Dolorfino backed up the embassy’s statement that the US troops were not involved in combat operations, saying they were helping to construct clinics, school buildings and other development projects.

He said the Abu Sayyaf militants were trying to prevent development aid from reaching the populace so that they could blame the government for the lack of facilities and further feed discontent. AFP

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

world Poor nations fighting climate change need ‘billions’: World Bank Report says effects of global warming will cost $100 billion each year for the next four decades, requiring more money on top of traditional aid THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Developing countries will need up to US$100 billion a year for 40 years to combat the effects of global warming, acccording to a World Bank report released Tuesday in The Hague.

Assuming the planet is 2 degrees Celsius warmer by 2050, “the study puts the cost of adapting … at $75 billion to $100 billion a year” from 2010, according to an investigation commissioned by Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

“What we try to show with this report is the urgency of ensuring that there are sufficient funds for adaptation” for poor countries, Dutch Development Minister Bert Koenders said on receiving the report.

“It is for many countries a question of life and death,” he added. “There will be no climate deal in Copenhagen if there is no financing for adaptation” – referring to the UN climate summit to be held there in December.

East Asia, South Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa are those most affected by global warming, the report said.

The European Union, Japan and the United States “realise”

that money had to be found, Koenders said, adding however that funding “does not necessarily have to come from national budgets”.

“The big political debate is now about the figures; that is why it is very important to have objective figures from this report.”

Koenders said developing countries would require additional aid on top of traditional development assistance to deal with climate change.

World Bank economist Sergio Margulis, who headed the study, said the costs of global warming will rise.

“Development is the most powerful form of adaptation,” the report said.

“It makes economies less reliant on climate-sensitive sectors, such as agriculture. It boosts the capacity of households to adapt by increasing levels of incomes, health and education.

“It enhances the ability of governments to assist by improving the institutional infrastructure. And it dramatically reduces the number of people killed by floods and affected by floods and droughts.” AFP

Report blames tourists for rare shrimp’s death SYDNEY – Tourists may have killed off a rare species of shrimp by relieving themselves on Australia’s iconic Uluru, or Ayers Rock, a report said on Tuesday.

Biologist Brian Timms said his research had showed one species of small inland shrimp living in pools atop the monolith had become extinct.

“The people going up the rock somehow have affected the animals which live in the pools, possibly by peeing on the rock and pooing on the rock,” Timms told state radio.

The Branchinella latzi spe-

cies had not been seen on Uluru since the 1970s and would have been susceptible to “enrichment” of the pool’s water, he added.

“Certainly if [tourists] go up, they should be behaving themselves, not pooing on the rock,” Timms said.

However, a species of fairy shrimp had survived, probably because it was “widespread and tough”, according to Timms.

Australia is mulling a ban on tourists climbing the rock, which is a sacred part of Aboriginal tribes’ creation mythology. AFP

15

‘Green revolution’ envelops Nepal as wood smoke clears Villagers call clean-burning homemade fuel a ‘blessing’ that saves labour, improves health and preserves the environment

This photo taken on April 18, 2009, shows an unidentified Nepalese villager inspecting a biogas plant installed at the back of his house in the village of Badrahani, southern Nepal. afp

by Deepesh Shrestha BADRAHANI, Nepal

N

EPALESE villager Khinu Darai used to walk about five kilometres every day to collect firewood so she could cook meals for her family.

Then, two years ago, she bought a biogas plant under a government programme to encourage villagers to convert to greener energy – an event the 30-year-old mother of three says transformed her life.

“Biogas is a blessing for my family. These days I don’t have to go into the jungle to collect wood,” she said outside her simple mud-brick home in the village of Badrahani.

“It is clean and safe, and we are healthier now, as we are not breathing in smoke all the time.”

In all, 82 households in Badrahani have bought biogas plants at heavily subsidised rates under the programme, which is funded by the Dutch

and German governments.

Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by feeding cow dung, human waste and water into an airtight underground tank known as digester and allowing it to decompose.

Environmentalists say biogas has huge potential in Ne-

Now developing countries are calling us [nepal] the land of biogas.” pal, where nearly 80 percent of the population of 27 million live in rural areas with no electricity, leaving them dependent on firewood for cooking and heating.

This means they live in smoke-filled houses, causing respiratory problems, particularly for young children, and the destruction of forests is also a major cause for concern.

Badrahani is situated on the edge of the Chitwan National

Park, home to endangered species including the Royal Bengal tiger and one-horned rhino, the habitats of which are threatened by villagers chopping down trees for firewood.

“Biogas has brought a green energy revolution to the country,” said Prakash Lamichhane, head of research at the Biogas Sector Partnership (BSP), the government agency in charge of installing the plants.

“We have the capacity to build 1.9 million biogas plants, but we have achieved just 11 percent of our target so far. We still have a long way to go.”

Over the past two decades, BSP has installed around 210,000 biogas plants at a cost of around US$350 each, with the government covering a third of the price.

BSP says each plant reduces the country’s carbon emissions by around 4.7 tonnes a year.

“We are helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 987,000 tonnes every year. It is helping us combat climate

change,” said Lamichhane, chief of the research department.

The biogas project has won plaudits as a rare environmental success in a country with one of the world’s most polluted capital cities.

But BSP research and development officer Siddiki said it had not always proved easy to convert villagers.

“Because the gas is produced from cow dung and human waste, villagers thought it was impure, and that it would be shameful to cook food using it,” said Siddiki, who has worked on the project since it began 26 years ago.

“Many developing countries in Asia and Africa have used our expertise to promote biogas, and many others are asking for our help,” said the BSP’s Lamichhane.

“Nepal has always been known as the land of mountains. Now, developing countries are calling us the land of biogas.” AFP

16

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

OPINION

When the only way to win is to lose Obama’s team should consider the benefits as well as the drawbacks of an Afghan withdrawal opinion

By Brahma Chellaney

N

EW DELHI – America’s war in Afghanistan is approaching a tipping point, with doubts about President Obama’s strategy growing.

Yet, after dispatching 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, Obama is considering sending another 14,000.

Let’s be clear: America’s Afghan war is not winnable, even though Obama has redefined American goals from defeating the Taliban to preventing al-Qaeda from using Afghanistan as a base to launch attacks on the US. But al-Qaeda is no longer a serious factor in the Afghan war, where the principal combatants are now the American military and the Taliban, with its associated militias and private armies. Rather than seeking to defeat the Taliban, the US has encouraged the Pakistani, Afghan, and Saudi intelligence services to hold proxy negotiations with the Taliban’s top leadership, holed up in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

The US is fighting the wrong war.

After America’s invasion drove alQaeda’s leaders from Afghanistan, Pakistan emerged as the main base and sanctuary for transnational terrorists. Support and sustenance for the Taliban and many other Afghan militants also comes from inside Pakistan. Despite this, Obama is

pursuing a military surge in Afghanistan but an aid surge to Pakistan, which is now the single largest recipient of US assistance in the world.

To defeat al-Qaeda, the US doesn’t need a troop buildup – certainly not in Afghanistan. Without a large ground force in Afghanistan or even major ground operations, the US can hold al-Qaeda’s remnants at bay in their havens in the mountainous tribal regions of Pakistan through covert operations, Predator drones, and cruise-missile attacks. And isn’t that what the CIA is doing already?

Indeed, US intelligence experts believe that al-Qaeda already is badly fragmented and in no position to openly challenge American interests. According to the latest Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community released last February, “Because of the pressure we and our allies have put on al-Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan … alQaeda today is less capable and effective than it was a year ago.”

Had Obama’s goal been to rout the Taliban, a further military surge may have made sense because a resurgent Taliban can be defeated only through major ground operations, not by airstrikes and covert action alone. But if the US administration’s principal war target is not the Taliban but al-Qaeda remnants, why use a troop-intensive strategy based on protecting population centers to win grassroots support? In reality, what the Obama administration calls a “clear, hold,

Afghan villagers stare at a US Marine from Fox Company 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines on patrol in Farah province, southern Afghanistan, on Monday. AFP

build” strategy is actually a “surge, bribe, run” strategy – except that the muddled nature of the mission and deepening US involvement undermine the “run” component.

Before Afghanistan becomes a Vietnam-style quagmire, Obama must rethink his plan for another troop surge. Gradually drawing down US troop levels makes more sense because what unites the disparate elements of the Taliban syndicate is a common opposition to foreign military presence.

An American military exit from Afghanistan would not be a shot in the arm for the forces of global jihad, as many in the US seem to fear. On the contrary, it would remove the

Taliban’s unifying element and unleash developments – a vicious power struggle in Afghanistan along sectarian and ethnic lines – whose significance would be largely internal or regional.

In fact, the most likely outcome of any Afghan power struggle triggered by an American withdrawal would be to formalise the present de factopartition of Afghanistan along ethnic lines – the direction in which Iraq, too, is headed.

In this scenario, the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and other ethnic minorities would be able to ensure self-governance in the Afghan areas that they dominate, leaving the Pashtun lands on both sides of the British-drawn

Durand Line in ferment. Thanks to ethnic polarisation, the Durand Line, or the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, exists today only on maps.

On the ground, it has little political and economic relevance, and it would be militarily impracticable to reimpose the line.

As in Iraq, an American withdrawal would potentially unleash forces of Balkanisation. That may sound disturbing, but it is probably an unstoppable consequence of the initial US invasion.

An American pullout actually would aid the fight against international terrorism. Instead of remaining bogged down in Afghanistan and seeking to cajole and bribe the Pakistani military into ending their support for Islamic militants, the US would become free to pursue a broader, more balanced counterterrorism strategy. For example, the US would better appreciate the dangers to international security posed by Pakistani terror groups like Lashkare-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The threat of an Islamist takeover of Pakistan comes not from the Taliban, but from groups that have long drawn support from the Pakistani army as part of a long-standing military-mullah alliance. That is where the focus of the fight should be.

PROJECT SYNDICATE

Brahma Chellaney, professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, is the author of Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India, and Japan.

17

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

LIFESTYLE Cinema buffs battle piracy in a sea of small screens Movie-hungry expats in Phnom Penh are revitalising local film culture, with a new wave of cinemas springing up to screen contemporary foreign films

BY DIANNE JANES

T

he last few years have brought mixed fortunes for cinema audiences in Phnom Penh. Venues screening local films have nearly all closed, victim to a piracy phenomenon cinema owners say they can’t compete with.

However, venues for foreign films have popped up around the city.

Phnom Penh now has venues including Meta House, focusing on documentaries; DVD movie house The Flicks, screening Hollywood movies and cult classics; and an old favourite, the French Cultural Centre (CCF), showing Francophone fare.

And it’s not just expatriates who have developed a taste for the cinema.

Mariam Arthur, CEO of film distribution company Kmy Films, says she knows several Khmers who regularly go to Bangkok for the weekend to watch movies.

“These aren’t only the rich kids. Middle-class business owners go to Thailand to purchase goods, and their kids go to the movies,” she said.

Co-owner of The Flicks, Martin Robinson, has found a niche audience amongst the English-speaking expats keen for some variety in their social life.

“Once you’ve done all the sights, and been to the bars, you hit a brick wall,” says Robinson.

Moviegoers also come for comic relief, he says. “Comedies do well,” he points out. “People working at the tribunal come in here after work, hearing about people getting tortured all day, and they just want to watch something funny.”

Alain Arnaudet, director of the CCF, says cinema is for everyone, and the local culture is more than receptive.

“Here people like to go out to see things, they are curious,” Arnaudet says, pointing to the success of the CCF’s regional touring cinema programme, which takes a mobile projector all over Cambodia.

“When we go on tour to the provinces, we have up to 2,000 people.”

The Cinema Royale, one of the few remaining vintage cinemas in Cambodia, will be one of the venues for Cambofest when the internationally-recognised independent movie festival launches its third season in Kampot on December 4. MARK ROY

Arnaudet says visual literacy, rather than words, is an obstacle to developing a strong cinema culture in Cambodia. Cambodians have “a lack of reference”, he says, as many locals have not grown up watching sophisticated styles of movies.

“They have difficulties sometimes in understanding the structure, if there is a ‘flashback’, or to follow multiple storylines,” he says.

At The Flicks, the issue for any such venue trying to run a business is the small size of the English-speaking population. “Just 20,000 or so expats, and half of them are French!” Robinson says, laughing.

While cinemas screening local and regional films generally blame DVD piracy for ruining their business, it

may not be quite the same obstacle for those playing films from the West.

The French Cultural Centre pays copyright fees to screen films, although as a library and cultural institution, it pays quite modest contributions compared with a mainstream cinema.

a real cinema room with a beautiful screen and a beautiful picture… it’s not the same at home.”

Arnaudet does not see piracy as a major threat to his cinema, which can offer movies free of charge, with funding from the French government.

The appeal for audiences is in the cinema experience, he says.

“Going outside to meet people, to be

in a real cinema room with a beautiful screen and a beautiful picture.… It’s not the same staying at home.”

Arthur hopes to use her years of experience in the film distribution business in the US to help reduce the impact of piracy here in Cambodia.

“We can’t expect to wake up one morning and have the problem of piracy solved,” she says. “It takes long-term investment and solid relationships in the ‘Hollywood’ film sales industry to bring about change.

“You have to have legal cinemas as a venue to screen legal movies.… The audience is ready to see international movies in Phnom Penh.”

She says she’s confident that everything is in place for a successful cinema industry in Cambodia.

“The day an investor is ready to build a cinema and screen licensed movies, the cinema culture will change – for the better,” Arthur says.

The question of affordability is on everybody’s lips. Many of the tiny venues around town say it would not be possible for them to pay Hollywood’s licence fees.

For now, they are meeting the demands of a cinema-hungry audience by providing a basic service for which there is no legal alternative.

Arthur says the local businesses trading in pirated DVDs are also doing the best they can under the circumstances.

“It is impossible for them to get licensed content on their own, so they buy DVDs from Malaysia,” she said.

“I really believe that most businesses want to comply with the law, they just have no access to do so.”

Kmy Films aims to help these businesses transition to legal DVD sales by making licensed movie content available at affordable prices.

To build a stronger cinema culture in Phnom Penh will also require some brave soul to invest in a big, comfy cinema showing contemporary foreign films at a reasonable price.

But, as someone said in a movie once, “If you build it, they will come.”

An expansive muse on feminine beauty

BY JUDE MAK

Attasit Pokpong’s painting exhibit “Lady Story”, which will open at Chinese House tonight, features a series of portraits of young women staring out at onlookers with bleak, expressionless faces.

The 33-year-old artist says the paintings are an expression of his own emotions, which are surprisingly subdued when compared with other pre-eminent figures in the contemporary Thai art scene.

Whereas many Bangkok artists have begun to explore the perversion and money swirling around them, Pokpong uses his brush to create images of passive feminine beauty that seem timeless. His original muse was his girlfriend before he began to paint women he envisioned in his head.

“Lady Story,” part of Chinese House’s ongoing effort to bring art to Phnom Penh, will be Pokpong’s first exhibition in the Kingdom. An award-winning artist in his homeland, he has

Thai artist Attasit Pokpong with one of his larger-than-life ‘Lady Story’ canvases. photo SUPPLIED

held exhibitions in Thailand and the UK. In 1997 he opened

the Magic Art Gallery to provide a space for local artists to display original work.

Pokpong began his career using watercolours, but now uses a mix of oil and acrylic media on canvas. The paintings in “Lady Story” use muted colours, with some portraits measuring 2 metres in height.

Chinese House owner, Alexis De Suremain, said that when he first saw Attasit’s work in Bangkok in October last year he thought it would be a great match for Chinese House.

“I bought those two paint-

ings, and I met him. I told him it would be really cool if [he] could come to do an exhibition in Phnom Penh,” he said.

But at the time Chinese House had not yet opened.

“But since then we have had many exhibitions here, and I went back to him to discuss a good time frame” he said.

“Lady Story” will be showing at the Chinese House, south of the Japanese Friendship Bridge on Sisowath Quay, until October 15. Pokpong will also be exhibiting in Paris and New York this winter.

What’s New Bruno too sexy for Malaysia’s Muslims

Muslim-majority Malaysia has banned British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s raunchy comedy Bruno because it contains “a lot of sex”, a senior official said Tuesday.

The film, which stars Cohen as a gay Austrian fashionista, has been a box-office hit in some countries. “The movie has been banned in Malaysia because of the sexual content. It was decided by a three-man committee.

There is a lot of sex in it,” an official with the National Film Censorship Board said. Since last year alone, Malaysia has banned five movies, the most recent being US horror film Halloween II, written and directed by Rob Zombie. 

AFP

Radiohead frontman forms new band

English rock singer Thom Yorke, lead singer of the British rock group Radiohead, has announced the formation of a new band, including bass player Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers, and drummer Joey Waronker of REM. 

AFP / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN

Yorke’s newly formed outfit will perform Sunday and Monday at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

Yorke released his debut solo album The Eraser in 2006.

Though his new touring band is as yet unnamed, Yorke has reportedly been toying with the monikers T Homme, Thomosexual and The Duke of Yorke. RELAXNEWS

Hostel Web site edges out rival in bed price

Hostelbookers was declared price victor over Hostelworld, according to a study released September 28 of two of the most popular online travel agencies that specialise in hostels. In a comparison of 900 hostels worldwide, conducted by UKbased research firm Reed Business Insight, Hostelbookers offered lower prices 90 percent of the time.

The difference was 5.1 percent on average. Some of the difference can likely be attributed to Hostelbookers’ lack of a booking charge, which they claim is unique in the hostelling industry.

The study was based on the price of a double room for two people for two nights in mid-November. RELAXNEWS 

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THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

LIFESTYLE

Battling land mines with artistry

by MELANIE BREW

M

onths in the making and involving the dedicated efforts of 10 artists whose works spotlight the ongoing crisis involving land mines in Cambodia as well as the successes achieved in mine eradication over more than a decade, the UNDP-funded exhibit “IMPACT” opens tonight at the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Centre.

“It’s a celebration of everything that has been achieved in mine action … since mine action began in the ’90s,” said Alexandra Hiniker, a UNDP communications and advocacy officer.

The artists, whose works comprise paintings, sculptures and installations constructed from decommissioned land mines, prepared for the IMPACT exhibit by spending time with land-mine survivors and residents in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces – two of the Kingdom’s most mine-affected regions – who live on land still heavily mined or areas that have since been cleared. They also spoke with deminers and others working to free Cambodia of mines and other unexploded ordnance.

Chhon Dina, a sculptor who is exhibiting, said her visit to Banteay Meanchey province filled him with fear for the dangers that rural residents face there on a daily basis. “How can people live there, and how do children play there?” she said of the thoughts she had during her visit.

Chhon Dina said her sculptures at-

Fishing, New Life and Children’s Game, from left to right, works by Tor Vutha on display at the “IMPACT” exhibit. MELANIE BREW

tempt to illustrate how land mines disrupt what should be the peaceful coexistence between humans and their natural surroundings. “I learned about the problems with land mines and the ways in which people have been injured or killed by them,” she said.

Her sculpture My Problem Is Your

Problem is an attempt to illustrate that land mines affect everyone. “I want people who see my sculpture to perceive that the land mine and the foot that steps on it, and the body that can be broken by it are all connected … and that [people] will not make any more land mines.”

Four young land mine survivors also contributed to the exhibition with a collaborative work titled My Stories. The installation includes a series of hanging boxes, each of which tells the personal story of its creator. The interior represents experiences in the past, including the

Two eager adventurers challenge all comers to ‘Khlimb the Penh’

circumstances of their injury by land mines, while the exterior envisions the future and the personal ambitions of the land mine survivor.

The exhibit coincides with an anniversary that is at the heart of the project. “One of the main reasons we’re doing this is that it is a celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the antipersonnel land mine convention, which Cambodia ratified in 1999,” Hiniker said.

“This December in Cartagena, Colombia, they’re presenting an extension request for 10 more years,” Hiniker said, referring to the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World, beginning November 30 and running through December 4.

“Australia has kindly offered to support taking the [“IMPACT”] exhibit to Colombia so everyone can see how well things are going [in Cambodia] and also to see that there’s a thriving art scene here,” Hiniker added.

The artists say they are eager for people from other nations to see their work.

“I am very happy that this [exhibit] will go to another country,” said Chhon Dina. “I have heard that Colombia has had a lot of problems with land mines as well, so I hope the people there are learning a lot about [land mines] and how dangerous they are. I want my sculpture to help convince them not to use mines anymore.”

“IMPACT” opens tonight at Bophana Audiovisual Resource Centre from 6pm to 8pm, and the exhibit will run through October 10. For more information, visit landmineart.blogspot.com.

Photos expose capital from the inside out

Two-day event is aimed at encouraging interest in climbing ahead of a planned practice facility

by JUDE MAK

Your fingertips are burning, your forearms trembling, and you know that if you let go, a terrifying fall at nature’s mercy awaits. These are some of the apparent joys of climbing, but a far safer option would be attending the first “Khlimb the Penh” event, which will be held this weekend in Phnom Penh.

For only US$5, climbers can ascend a 25-metre-high temporary climbing wall on the side of the Yellow Tower, a building under construction on the Chroy Changvar peninsula. The wall will be divided into two levels of difficulty to satisfy both novice and

It’s all about sharing a passion for active sports, encouraging participation and bringing something new.” experienced climbers.

“Khlimb the Penh” was dreamed up by two avid Phnom Penh-based climbers, Tony Keating and Yves Nommay, from Ireland and France respectively. The two friends share a love of outdoor sports but encountered a lack of climbing facilities in the capital, with the nearest spot located outside the city.

Keating and Nommay explored the possibility of opening a climbing gym and actively encouraged schools to add climbing to their physical education curriculum.

It was through these efforts that they realised how many people in the city enjoyed, or wanted to try, climbing.

According to Keating, the seedling of “Khlimb the Penh” sprouted a few months

The unfinished development site that will host the “Khlimb the Penh” event. PHOTO SUPPLIED

ago. “The eureka moment occurred, as they usually do, on a rooftop bar overlooking the Tonle Sap,” he explained. “Rising from the peninsula on the opposite shore was a building under construction. It was close enough to town and had, we later found, magnificent views back across to the city and of the sunset.”

Nommay and Keating were able to contact the owner of the building, who agreed to let them use it for the climb. Tony added: “The phone calls, email exchanges and [notices on] expat notice boards paid off.

The interest we received surprised both of us.”

However, the owners were keen to underline the fact that this is not a business venture. “It’s all about sharing a passion for active sports, encouraging participation and bringing something new and interesting to Phnom Penh,” clarified Keating.

“There are no profits from the event; anything made will go towards running costs.”

The intrepid twosome hope that “Khlimb the Penh” will generate sufficient interest, from both Cambodian and foreign communities, for a climbing gym, with a 40-metre-high wall to be built next year.

The climb is to run from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. A free ferry will be available to transport climbers between Paragon Hotel and the climbing site every hour, starting at 11am. Harnesses and safety gear will be provided at the site, and a bouldering wall will also be set up next to the ferry mooring. Participants are encouraged to wear trainers and pants that at least cover the knees. For more details, please email khlimbthepenh@yahoo.fr.

Lim Sokchanlina’s work Bathroom Mirror is from a group photographic exhibition by five new Khmer young shooters. LIM SOKCHANLINA

BY ROTH MEAS

In an upcoming photo exhibition called “Inside”, running throughout October at Sa Sa Gallery, five Cambodian photographers celebrate the quiet details of their lives in the homes and buildings where they live.

As a continuation of the “Outside” photo exhibition that was shown at Java Cafe, “Inside” features 28 40cmx-60cm photographs, each focusing on the details of life within a home’s walls.

Twenty-five-year-old photographer Chhin Taingchheas’s black-and-white photographs, taken with a rudimentary pinhole camera, feature the structural work of renowned Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann

as seen from the inside.

There are no people in the images, partly due to the extended exposure of the camera, but also as a commentary on the destructive impact of people on the classic buildings, he said.

Kong Vollak, the 26-yearold founder of Sa Sa Gallery who is also among the five photographers, spotlights the Cambodian kitchen, bedroom and living room in her photographs.

Heng Ravuth’s photos focus on everyday tools, while Lim Sokchanlina captures images reflected in the restroom mirrors shared by Cambodian families.

The exhibit, which opened Tuesday, can be seen at Sa Sa Gallery on Street 360 through October 29.

19

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

TRAVEL & TOURISM INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

Travelling history

Airlines IN Cambodia AirAsia Room T6, Phnom Penh International Airport.

Tel: 023 890 035.

Web: www.airasia.com

Phoenix Ewar, a 15th-century stoneware artefact from Vietnam.

For the first time outside of the country, a collection of 110 objects are on exhibit in the United States, at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Titled “Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea”, the show will run through January 3. Dating from the first millennium BC through the 17th century, these historical and cultural works of art thematically relate to Vietnam as a centre of trade between Asia and the West. The items on exhibit include Hindu and Buddhist deities, glazed ceramics, terracotta burial wares, traditional bronzes, fine gold jewellery, and ornaments of jade, lapis lazuli, crystal and carnelian. AFP

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Dictator’s cultural centre still a focus for art in Philippines

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CCP has become platform for local performers

M

ANILA – The Cultural Centre of the Philippines no longer echoes to applause for the likes of the Bolshoi Ballet, Frank Sinatra and Placido Domingo.

But 40 years after it was controversially built along Manila Bay, the now-iconic block of masonry that seems to float over water fountains at night stands as one of dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s more pleasant legacies.

The CCP, as it is commonly known, came to being only because it was a pet project of infamous former first lady Imelda Marcos, who was accused of wasting billions of dollars on extravagant projects while disregarding the poor masses.

While the nation was spiralling deeply into debt, the CCP enjoyed the spending power only the Marcoses could provide and brought the world’s premier performers from Europe and the United States all the way to Manila.

Former Filipino ballet dancer Nestor Jardin was there in the glory days of the 1970s, when the world’s best ballerina, Margot Fonteyn, brought great pleasure to those in the 1,893seat main theatre.

That halcyon era also saw tenor Placido Domingo sing for the opera Tosca, while the Bolshoi Ballet performed Swan Lake and Frank Sinatra cast his famous blue eyes across an enraptured audience.

Jardin, who started as a ballet dancer at the centre in 1973, has been its president for the past eight years and remains upbeat about its role today as a local and regional artistic hub despite hosting no global stars.

“I think the CCP has helped discover, nurture and support the Filipino artist in such a way that some of them have achieved high standards of excellence recognised both here and abroad,” Jardin said.

Indeed, the world-renowned pianist Cecile Licad was nurtured at the centre, while Lea Salonga trained and auditioned

there for her award-winning role as Kim in the Broadway musical Miss Saigon. “[Southeast Asian countries] look up to the Philippines as far as artistic talents are concerned, be they performers or visual artists or directors or choreographers,” Jardin said.

Today, the centre continues a steady turnover of performances that may not make the grade internationally but provides an important platform for artists in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

The centre’s annual festival that features young, independent local filmmakers with no commercial experience drew in a huge college-based crowd of 41,000 in July, a five-fold rise from its inaugural staging four years ago.

With a philharmonic orchestra, four dance companies, a drama outfit and a choral group, the centre also hosts about 500 performances, exhibitions and other artistic events every year. AFP

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20

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

TEA BREAK “THROWN FOR A LOOP” ACROSS 1 5 9 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 25 28 30 32 33 36 37 39 41

Sudoku Wednesday’s solution

Wednesday’s solution

42 43 44 48 50 52 53 57 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66

Had ___ (knew someone) Boris ­Godunov, e.g.

“Ars gratia ___” (MGM motto) Legendary Horne 2001 erupter “ ___ in peace” It comes before a fall “Indiana Jones and the Temple of ___” Observe furtively Cast aspersions “And now, without ­further ___ ...”

Big Apple letters Lipton rival Applied teeth to Athletes Ripken and Hubbard Spheroid “The ­Munsters” actress Yvonne Carpet calculation Celebrated, in a way Less-than-average grades Patronized, as a restaurant Different ending?

“Alfred” and “Judith” composer Fancy sheet material Nutritious breakfast cereal Have the usual, e.g.

Detroit-to-Baltimore direction Intense ­fighting at close range Burrito topping Met solo Toward the mouth Britain’s PM until 2007 Nervous contractions Act like a hot dog Bottomless pit Child of the first family “___Anything” (“Oliver!” song)

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 21 22 26 27 29 30 31 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 43 45 46 47 49 50 51 54 55 56 57 58

Introductory Greek letters Poet Pablo Lined up single-file Pt. of NFL 1901-09 presidential nickname Hardly the screaming type Popular poet, briefly Gate-storming aids Pew separators Sales slips (Abbr.)

Film with Mr. Potato Head “According to me,” in shorthand “D-OH” ­person, e.g.

Rear-___ (road mishap) Confess in a big way “... ___ he drove out of sight ...”

“Defending Liberty, Pursuing ­Justice” org.

Old English letters Cherry picker, e.g.

Mont Blanc, par exemple “The ­Entertainer” comedian Eke out ___ (barely beat) “Boy!” or “girl!” lead-in “Twelve Angry Men,” originally Certain Jamaican believer Headlight setting ___ Claire, Wisc.

Hitching posts?

Any foursome “Cast Away” locale Can’t help but Insistent Andalusian assents Command from the king Embarrass Millinery inventory “... fifteen miles on the ___ Canal” African antelope Federal agcy. for entrepreneurs Clerical garment

Oddly enough ... Osama spotted on DC’s Metro

THE LAST WORD IN ASTROLOGY

BY EUGENIA LAST

Celebrities born on this day:

l l

WASHINGTON – Travellers on the Metro rapid transit system in the US capital risk coming face-to-face with al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, smiling and wearing an “I Love Guantanamo” T-shirt. The irreverent billboard image of America’s No 1 enemy, just a short distance from the White House, is part of an activist campaign aimed at highlighting that al-Qaeda uses the US detention centre as a recruiting tool.

The Metro billboard is “to remind policymakers that torture is illegal, unethical and a top recruiting tool

for the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network”, creators from the Avaaz activist group said. Avaaz believes Guantanamo is a potent symbol for the “war on terror” torture excesses of former president George W Bush and that al-Qaeda plays on this fact to pull in new members. Another poster presents former vice president Dick Cheney, who has ardently defended the controversial interrogation techniques of the Bush-era, urging the question: “Could this be al-Qaeda’s best recruiter?” AFP

Jay Underwood, 41 Mark McGwire, 46

Libra (Sep 23 - Oct 22) A social event will help you realize your potential and reunite you with someone from your past. A proposal that can offer you change and a little adventure must be considered carefully. Allow your creative spirit to evolve. 

Scorpio (Oct 23 - Nov 21)

l l

Randy Quaid, 59 Stella Stevens, 71 Aries (Mar 21 - April 19)

Secrets must be kept no matter what.

Someone may try to trick or bribe you. Keep busy helping others and developing a plan or project and you can avoid contact with anyone trying to push, prod or persecute you.

Taurus (April 20 - May 20)

Put your efforts into the things you enjoy and do best. You cannot allow anyone to make you feel inadequate or put you down.

Jealousy is apparent and should be dealt with firmly. A relationship that means a lot to you will take on new meaning. 

Your ability to work with what you have and come up with something first-rate will give you the edge over any competition. Have confidence in yourself. A change at home will lift your spirits and help your love life. 

You should be questioning the motives of yourself as well as those of whomever you are dealing with. Communication will be tense and difficult and may lead to a misunderstanding if you aren't honest about the way you feel. 

Be careful when dealing with people who may want to use you or your information wrongly. You cannot take chances when it comes to money or your social contacts. Stick strictly to business and don't meddle. 

Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21)

Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19) You can turn an old friendship into a new partnership or a goal you once had into a reality. There is a lot for you to consider and a number of changes you must make quickly in order to bring you the happiness you deserve.

Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18) Think about ways you can take the pressure off someone you care for by being a little more responsible.

Don't let someone's erratic behavior prompt you to make a decision you will live to regret.

Pisces (Feb 19 - Mar 20) Emotional issues will be brought out into the open. Stick to the facts and don't allow anyone to hand out false information. Your fast action and passionate way of approaching matters will impress someone who can further your interests. 

Gemini (May 21 - June 20)

Cancer (June 21 - July 22) You can make professional changes that will help you move into a position you enjoy. There is money to be made if you stop fearing failure.

Create a better work area at home.

Romance is in the stars. 

Leo (July 23 - Aug 22) Your emotions may lead to a poor purchase. Read the fine print and don't fall for a sales pitch promising impossible results. Knowing what you are dealing with upfront will be half the battle. 

Virgo (Aug 23 - Sep 22) The way you feel and see others will change, bringing you greater confidence and willingness to put yourself and your skills to the test. Your practical but unique approach to whatever you do will win favors and respect. 

DYNAMIC  | POSITIVE  | AVERAGE  | SO- SO  | TERRIBLE 

21

THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

olympics

Madrid aims to upset the bookies Dark horse Madrid hopes to win the race to become the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games with its environmentally friendly approach, river development project and Spanish passion for sports

by Denholm Barnetson MADRID

70 percent of the facilities are already built, and its compact size in a bid to influence IOC members.

“Madrid is the most practical – it’s the size of the city, a city of average size; it’s ideal, everything is close,” said Coghen, captain of the women’s Olympic field hockey gold medal winning team in 1992.

The Olympic facilities “are divided into two zones, well adapted to the size of the city”, she told AFP. The core of the Olympic facilities would be located in the east of the city, including the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Village.

The River Zone in the west would host the venues for nine sports, including rowing, cycling and tennis.

M

ADRID may be an outsider in the 2016 Olympics race, but the city is betting that the overwhelmingly support within the sports-obsessed country will upset the odds Friday.

Opinions polls carried out in Spain say around 85 percent of Spaniards are rooting for Madrid to beat Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo when the International Olympic Committee votes in Copenhagen.

That’s far higher than the support in the other three cities, and compares notably to a figure of 56 percent in Tokyo.

The depth of enthusiasm was demonstrated at the weekend when some 400,000 people turned out in a city square to form a massive human mosaic in the colours of Madrid’s candidature.

Spaniards have a passion for sports that has been boosted by spectacular recent success in football, tennis and cycling.

Our sportsmen “make us

Waiting for the green light

A handout image from the Madrid city hall shows the actual area where an artifical beach is in construction along the Manzanares River (top) and a computer generated image of the beach project. AFP

proud when they represent us”, said the head of the Madrid 2016 organising commit-

tee Mercedes Coghen.

The Spanish capital can also point to Barcelona’s hosting

of the 1992 Games – one of the most successful Olympics ever – the fact that more than

It is also predicting “the greenest Games ever”, should Madrid get the nod this week.

This would include the creation of a total of 2,200 hectares of green belt throughout the city.

Part of that will be a massive new project along the Manan-

zares River – including a city beach – scheduled for completion in 2011.

But with London set to be the venue in 2012, some are predicting Madrid will fall victim to the unspoken rule the Olympics must be rotated between continents – something Coghlen rejects.

“Honestly, I don’t think that it will be a problem. In Madrid, we refer to the rotation of cultures in the world in the 21st century.… Madrid’s offer will mark a radical change from the Anglo-Saxon culture [of London],” she said.

“Culture can have an influence and we are a city rich in that.”

Madrid will also have the heavyweight support in Copenhagen of Spain’s former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and King Juan Carlos, a former Olympian who represented Spain in sailing in the 1972 Games.

But whether they will be enough to counter the presence of one high-profile Chicago native – US President Barack Obama – remains to be seen. AFP

Rio de Janeiro ready to stage the ‘perfect’ Olympic Games

Tokyo’s emotional bid

COPENHAGEN - Rio de Janeiro’s 2016 Olympic bid team hit the ground running Tuesday, making a stout case for the Games to be awarded to South America for the very first time and ruffling rival Chicago’s feathers in the process.

With nations making frantic lobbying before Friday’s IOC vote, Rio rolled out the top brass Wednesday ahead of the arrival of reinforcements in the shape of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and national icon Pele.

And it was impossible not to detect the dynamism that has driven them to the position of frontrunners with Chicago for the right to host the Olympics in seven years’ time.

From Brazilian Olympic chief Carlos Nuzman to the city’s Governor Sergio Cabral and Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, the message was clear: Rio is ready.

An hour-long media briefing

COPENHAGEN – Tokyo will be a “stage set for heroes” should they win the right to host the 2016 Olympics, their bid chief said.

Dr Ichiro Kono – doctor for the Japanese team at three Olympics – insisted that the Tokyo bid was the best of the four candidates and that they should be the ones to emerge victorious when the 100-plus International Olympic Committee members vote Friday.

Tokyo – who are the only one of the candidates to have previously hosted the Olympics back in 1964 – are opposed by bookies’ favourites Chicago; Rio de Janeiro, hoping to become the first South American city to host the Games; and rank outsiders Madrid.

Kono, who was also a prominent member of the bid team that controversially lost out to New Zealand for the hosting of the 2011 rugby World Cup, remained optimistic that his team’s relatively low-key approach would win the day.

“There is no doubt we are the best choice,” he said.

“We are here to win, and we have the best technical plan.

“We are setting the stage for heroes,” added Kono, whose chances of winning the vote are rated at 8:1 by leading English bookmaker Ladbrokes.

Kono, spoke alongside an interactive globe that was used to highlight the terrible state of the environment – something which Tokyo have pledged to overcome by hosting a truly

at their hotel headquarters included an elegant 10-minute film presentation as to what the Olympics would look like if Rio succeded in beating Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid.

Rio’s bid masters insisted now was the right time to give the Olympics to South America.

“Rio’s Games plan is one of the most complete in Olympic history,” Cabral said.

With his politician’s hat on, he added that despite the advocates’ confidence, Rio would be fighting for every vote right up until the ballot boxes at Copenhagen’s Bella Center close.

“We’re talking about an election here, and we’re going to ask for votes until the last minute.

“We’re very optimistic, but there are four big cities with four big bids. Each city has been told by the IOC’s evaluation committee that it has the

Mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes (left), and governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, shake hands during a press conference Tuesday in Copenhagen. AFP

capacity to host the Games, but we have the capacity to transform the Games in Rio. “Now is the time for the IOC movement to go to South America.”

Political games begin As with any election, especially one as close to call as this one, the opposition are prone to jump on any perceived negative, despite stringent IOC guidelines against the practise.

In this instance, Rio took Chicago to task for their apparent suggestion that Rio with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil didn’t deserve to get the Olympics two years later.

The issue was raised as the four rival bidders entered what promises to be a challenging final week of campaigning in the glare of the world’s media and of course the IOC. One false step in the next couple of days could undo two years of painstaking planning.

So when tackled on Chicago’s criticism, it was left to Rio’s mayor to state the case for the defence.

“I think the World Cup is an asset to our bid,” Paes stated defiantly.

“We have been with FIFA’s executive committee only in the past two days.

“For us, holding the World Cup is a big opportunity to have things ready for the Olympics – we can learn a lot from the World Cup to make a perfect Olympic Games.” AFP

Tokyo prepares ‘stage set for heroes’ for the 2016 Olympic Games bid

Vice President of Tokyo 2016 Paul Tange (left), President of the Japan Olympic Committee Tsunekazu Takeda (centre) and Chair and CEO of Tokyo 2016 Ichiro Kono attend a press conference Tuesday. AFP

green Games.

The doctor said he had been vastly encouraged by the level of popular support domestically.

“We have incredible public support with 27 out of 30 million people in Tokyo and 100 million people in Japan wanting the Games,” he said.

“That would fill the stadia several times over.

“We are ready to step up and deliver an unprecedented legacy.”

One thing that Kono and his bid team, though, will have to improve on according to IOC members is their presentations, which have often left their audience wondering whether they possess any real passion for what they are trying to sell.

However, Kono rejected this characterisation.

“It is not that we don’t have passion, it is just how we express it, and I am totally confident we will express them on Friday [at the final presentations],” said Kono, who was also actively involved as an administrator with the Japanese rugby team at two World Cups.

Tsunekazu Takeda, vice president of the bid committee, agreed with Kono that, while outwardly the Japanese did not show their emotions, that did not mean they were cold and emotionless.

“It is generally said that Japanese people lack emotion,” said Takeda, who represented Japan in showjumping at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.

“Well, we do [have emotions].

We have them in our own style, and we will make them felt.”

AFP

22

THE PHNOM PENH POST october 1, 2009

football Young playmaker Stevan Jovetic scored a brace as Fiorentina stunned a woeful Liverpool 2-0 in their Champions League Group E match at Plorence’s Stadio Artemio Franchi Tuesday

Jovetic puts Liverpool to the sword

BY Andy Hunter Florence, Italy

T

HE last Merseyside team to visit Florence were exposed as the European novices they were, lost 2-0 and ultimately exited the UEFA Cup as a consequence. Liverpool have no excuse for masquerading as Everton in the Champions League 18 months on. “Never have I seen this team struggle so badly as I did in the first half,” said a simmering Rafael Benitez Tuesday. “It was a poor performance, they pressed us into making mistakes and we didn’t do anything we spoke about.” His withering assessment will brook no argument.

For 45 minutes Liverpool forgot their education of two final, one semi final and one quarter final appearances in the Champions League under Benitez, and produced arguably the most anaemic European display of his reign.

Typically, they stirred when pressed into a corner, only to discover that Fiorentina are no shrinking Violas.

Cesare Prandelli’s team were everything Liverpool were not: Keen, incisive, clinical and solid. It was easy to see why they have christened the Fiorentina coach “Il Mago di Orz” – the Wizard of Orz – in this part of Tuscany. The tag is in honour of Prandelli’s birthplace, Orzinuovi, and his team left Liverpool pining for the comforts

Fiorentina forward Stevan Jovetic celebrates after scoring his second goal against Liverpool during their Champions League match Tuesday. AFP

of home. In Martin Skrtel, who gave up after the outstanding Stevan Jovetic evaded him yet again, the visitors also had their own Tin Man. No heart whatsoever. “They were on top of us all the time in the first half and we made too many mistakes,” Benitez added.

“They did well, we did bad in everything. I think it will be totally different at Chelsea on Sunday. Hopefully you will see the Liverpool you saw in the second half.”

This was not the showcase George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the Liverpool co-owners, have been presenting to would-be investors across the globe.

With Lyon establishing an early lead in the group the financial repercussions could be immense for Liverpool should they lose the possible two-way fight with the Italians. Their prospects will be bleak on this form. “It’s simple,” said Benitez when asked to assess the group. “We have to win.”

It was an unforgettable night for Liverpool. Benitez made sure of that. The inhabitants of the Stadio Artemio Franchi provided a pulsating, relentless soundtrack, although the raucous atmosphere was not orchestrated solely to intimidate. “Welcome Reds — your story to us is a legend” read

one giant banner on the Curva Fiesole, as the bespectacled image of John Lennon looked on from another. Mightily impressive though the noise was, it was not the most admirable quality on display from Fiorentina.

Prandelli’s side were energetic and intricate from the start, passing their way through and around a weak Liverpool midfield and making no secret of a gameplan that involved targeting the visiting full-backs, Glen Johnson and Emiliano Insua, incessantly. The young Argentinian has enjoyed a commanding start to the season in the absence of Fabio Aurelio but this was to be the most excruciating night of his Liverpool education so far.

A Benitez team has rarely looked as exposed in the Champions League as Liverpool did Tuesday. The expected show of experience, used to stifle and then wrestle control from exuberant hosts, did not materialise until it was too late. Aurelio’s recovery from a knee injury, combined with a hamstring strain suffered by Javier Mascherano, prompted the Liverpool manager to deploy the Brazilian defender alongside his compatriot, Lucas Leiva, in central midfield.

The idea was to allow Steven Gerrard to impose his talents in the final third rather than in the scrap, but this was one Benitez tactical plan that failed to deliver. Liverpool were con-

sistently overrun in midfield, with Jovetic delivering a performance they will not forget and rival managers are sure to note.

The 19-year-old Montenegrin, playing off the disgraced but now rehabilitated former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu, wreaked havoc behind the Brazilians, his first touch, disguised passes and movement proving thorns to an already vulnerable Liverpool defence.

Jovetic served several warnings of intent before he finally struck. A poor ball by Yossi Benayoun, followed by weak challenges in midfield, allowed Cristiano Zanetti to step forward and release Jovetic. Mutu was clearly offside, the teenager clearly not, and he tucked the ball low beyond Reina.

The Liverpool keeper denied

Vargas when the Fiorentina winger chanced his luck from a ludicrous angle on the left but the visitors, and in particular Johnson, failed to heed the warning. Marchionni, not for the first time, left Insua trailing on the Fiorentina right and his cross fell to Vargas via Skrtel’s imposing forehead.

Vargas shot low again, and this time Jovetic was on hand to deflect the ball inside the near post. Benitez trudged across the pitch at the interval barely raising a glance.

“I don’t think it was a gamble,” said the Liverpool manager of Aurelio’s selection. “He played the second half when we played well. If you improve with the same players in the second half it means the mentality wasn’t right in the first.”

THE GUARDIAN

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez (left) grimaces during their Champions League match against Fiorentina; Fiorentian manager Cesare Prandelli (right) gives a cheeky grin after the final whistle Tuesday. AFP

Van Persie provides late relief for fluent Arsenal LONDON – For so long at Emirates Stadium Tuesday, it appeared that George Clooney would come between Arsenal and three Champions League points.

For the Hollywood actor, read his doppelganger Antonis Nikopolidis, the 38-year-old Olympiakos goalkeeper, who proved to be a heroic last line of defence.

But just as Arsenal looked set for frustration, after failing to convert possession and chances into the hard currency of goals, up popped Robin Van Persie to sweep home from close range and ensure that his team’s progress in Europe’s elite competition would continue unchecked.

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, had begun to shuffle his pack and it was one of his substitutes, Eduardo da Silva, who fashioned the breakthrough. Taking a pass from Cesc Fabregas, the Croatia striker cut back the perfect centre for Van Persie to score from point blank range.

The Emirates could exhale. Arsenal were full value for the victory and the gloss to the scoreline was provided by Andrey Arshavin, the outstanding performer on view. Although he was at least a yard offside when Fabregas drove across from the right, his impish flicked finish was of the highest order.

The Russian had earned his good fortune.

Wenger celebrates his 13th anniversary with Arsenal Thursday and for those of a sentimental bent, the present

to get him, apparently, is a barometer, the instrument used to measure pressure. The Frenchman knows all about that and needs no reminding that it has been four seasons since he furnished the club with a piece of silverware. How he would love to end the drought with the Champions League, the one trophy that is missing from his CV. Great expectations and suffocating demands, however, are a long way from being the sole preserve of Arsenal.

Wenger described his counterpart Zico, the Brazil legend, as occupying a “very hot seat” at Olympiakos. The Athens club sacked their previous manager, Temuri Ketsbaia, after only two matches of the league season, in which the team had followed up an opening day victory with a disappointing 0-0 home draw against newly promoted opposition.

Arsenal were heavily fancied, and not only because of Olympiakos’s awful away record in European competition.

The Greek champions of the past five seasons had entered the tie having lost on each of their previous eight trips to England, with one goal in their favour and 27 against them. They had won only two of their 35 away matches in the Champions League proper.

Arsenal pulled them apart in the firsthalf with razor sharp interchanges and it was no surprise to see that Arshavin was at the heart of their most eyecatching moments. He is the epitome of the creative Wenger player, with

George Clooney lookalike and Olympiakos goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis made a series of fine saves to keep Arsenal at bay until 12 mintes from time Tuesday. AFP

quick feet and even quicker brain. He drew purrs of appreciation from the home crowd, particularly when, with his low centre of gravity, he repeatedly turned away from those in black shirts.

He forced the overworked Nikopolidis into two sharp saves in the first-half and, together with Van Persie, was involved in the moves that led to further chances for Fabregas.

On the first occasion, the captain’s fierce drive from 18 yards rattled the crossbar, with Nikopolidis beaten and,

on the second, he shot too close to the goalkeeper. Arsenal were also left to rue Abou Diaby’s failure to make contact with Van Persie’s corner, after he had risen unchallenged.

It was all Olympiakos could do to escape their own half in the first 45 minutes. Their one chance came in splendid isolation, Vassilis Torosidis getting in behind Gael Clichy to thump a header at Vito Mannone’s midriff.

Wenger had brought Tomas Rosicky into the starting line-up to replace

Nicklas Bendtner, who was recovering from driving his car into a tree, but the manager received a boost earlier in the day when Theo Walcott played an hour of a training ground friendly against the Olympiakos youth team.

Rosicky remains rusty after his lengthy injury lay-off but he showed flashes of skill and took up some good positions. It was from his promptings that Emmanuel Eboue, who was preferred to Bacary Sagna, played in Van Persie for a shot that once again tested Nikopolidis.

By then however, almost implausibly, Arsenal could have been behind. Olympiakos had started the second half with an increased sense of urgency and, from Dudu’s corner, Olof Mellberg rose with Thomas Vermaelen and smuggled a header goalwards. Clichy was well positioned on the goalline but Mannone, under pressure, pawed the ball to safety. Mellberg, who scored the first goal in a competitive fixture at the Emirates for Aston Villa in August 2006, was denied.

Arsenal pressed on, attempting to strike the decisive blow and the cries of the home support betrayed increasing anxiety. Dudu appeared to handle inside the area but Arsenal’s penalty appeals came to nothing while Nikopolidis continued to stand tall. Ultimately, though,Van Persie and Arshavin broke through. It was hard on Nikopolidis but a draw would have been harder on Arsenal. THE GUARDIAN

23

THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

football

Fans react to S’pore drubbing Local football spectators were left bewildered after the U23 national team were dealt a 6-0 defeat by the Young Lions Sunday, while officials downplay concern

BY KEN GADAFFI

F

OOTBALL fans turned out in their thousands at Olympic Stadium on Sunday to see the international friendly between the U23 sides of Cambodia and Singapore, only to witness their home team humiliated 6-0 by the visitors. Many spectators left the stands early, distraught at the overwhelming scoreline, casting major doubts on Cambodia’s chances in the upcoming SEA Games in Laos in December.

“This is embarrassing. I think I have seen enough,” remarked Meas Thy as the Cambodian defence began to crumble in the second half.

“I am surprised we couldn’t even score a goal,” said 25-year-old Chy Samoeun, who had stayed til the end in the hope of a consolation effort.

“This is really not good enough.”

Ouk Sokdara, who attended all the Cambodian matches in last year’s Suzuki Cup qualifying tournament played at Olympic Stadium, claimed the team now is worse than before.

“They are not committed, and I don’t

Cambodian U23 national team players leave the field dejected after losing 6-0 to Singapore U23s Sunday. nick sells

know what the coach is doing that we can lose like this,” he said. “The last team did well and won matches. If we can lose at home like this, then what will happen if we go abroad?”

Another local football enthusiast, Luy Seyha, said Cambodia has a long way to go to compete successfully at international level. “If we continue to lose like this at home, fans will not like to come to spend their time and money to watch our country embarrassed,” he noted.

However, Lor Samedy, an official of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, said he believed that the team performed well and did not want to blame the players or the coaching staff. “The Singaporeans are stronger and bigger than our players,” he asserted. “Our boys tried and gave a good fight, but they have no power like the Singapore team. We need to train hard and condition our players well so they can be strong to compete with other countries.”

Meanwhile, former national team coach and current technical director of Preah Khan Reach, Prak Sovannara, commended the players for putting on a good show, considering 80 percent had taken part in the league playoff finals the previous day. “The players tried their best,” he stated. “They were obviously tired after the first 35 minutes, having played the day before.

“I cannot judge the team’s technical approach,” he continued. “It all depends on the coach’s strategies. As you can see, its only a friendly match, and so I think the coach wanted to test different players for the future, and this experience will be useful for them.”

Prak Sovannara also refused to write off Cambodia in the near future. “I don’t think the team will do badly in the SEA Games. The team is made up

 SINGAPORE – The Football

Association of Brunei Darussalam (BAFA) has been suspended by FIFA for government interference in its affairs, FIFA said Wednesday.

“It started with a decision by the Brunei authorities to dissolve BAFA and to replace it with a new federation in December 2008,” FIFA said in a statement. The suspension, which applies globally, means Brunei and its clubs are unable to take part in international competition. AFP  BARCELONA – Holders

Fans brave the wet weather in the uncovered stands of Olympic Stadium to watch the Cambodia U23 national team play their Singaporean counterparts Sunday. nick sells

Barcelona recorded their first Champions League win of the new campaign with goals from Lionel Messi and substitute Pedro securing a 2-0 win over Dinamo Kiev at Camp Nou Tuesday. After a perfect five wins in the league, Barca kickstarted their European defence and replace Kiev at the top of Group F on four points after Inter Milan drew 1-1 with Rubin Kazan. AFP

Lyon feast in Hungary

 BUDAPEST – Lyon made it

of 80 percent of the players I took to the Suzuki cup in Indonesia. The Singapore side consists of foreign players from Nigeria and European clubs, which makes them stronger, but I am sure that [our] players will peak before the SEA Games, if they prepare well.”

Football federation spokesman May Tola shared the disappointment of the fans. “The result was not what we wanted,” he said. “The fans all came to support the team and were hoping for a better performance, but we will take the positives from the match and improve on them.

“We may not have expected to win Singapore. However, is was a surprising scoreline at the end of the day,” he added. “In the Suzuki Cup [Singa-

Sevilla’s Abdoulay Konko (left) heads in a goal against Rangers during their UEFA Champions League match Tuesday at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow. aFP

hardly inspiring stuff before the visit of a Sevilla team who dismissed Athletic Bilbao 4-0 last weekend.

The men from Andalucia have apparently genuine aspirations of challenging La Liga’s big two in the coming season. The first test comes Saturday when they face Real Madrid; more immediately, Sevilla were the team tipped in Tuesday night’s match programme by the Rangers manager to be the winners of Group G.

Brunei banned by FIFA

Barca brush off Dynamo

pore] presented a much stronger team than this, but we played better against them, so we really didn’t expect to lose with such a wide margin.”

May Tola ruled out the effects of players playing the day before. “It’s obvious the players suffered from fatigue, but that shouldn’t be an excuse,” he stated. “Both teams were allowed to make several substitutions, and in fact the coach changed players at intervals of nearly 20 minutes.”

The federation official remained optimistic of the team’s future, despite their humbling to Singapore. “We will come good again soon,” he declared.

“We have lined up a training programme for the team, and that will put them in shape for the SEA Games.”

Rangers rue referee’s error after Sevilla rout GLASGOW, Scotland – The last time Ibrox housed a Champions League match before Tuesday night, Lyon sauntered to a 3-0 win over Rangers. This was an equally brutal night for the Glasgow side, if one tinged with a fair degree of controversy.

Rangers were denied a clear first-half penalty as Abdoulay Konko felled Steven Naismith.

The Sevilla defender rubbed salt into an open wound five minutes into the second period by heading home the game’s opening goal. From then on, it was rapidly downhill for Rangers, even if their focus when looking back on proceedings will probably not wander too much from the interventions of the Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson. Sevilla, cantering by full time, hardly needed the assistance of officialdom in displaying their attacking brilliance. Nacho Novo’s 25-yard goal two minutes from time was a meek consolation for Walter Smith’s men.

The Rangers’ draw in Stuttgart a fortnight ago has proved the highlight of a stuttering opening to their season. They have gone three Scottish Premier League matches in succession without summoning so much as a goal,

BRIEFS

The visitors’ opening emphasised Smith’s confidence, albeit an ominous sign. Allan McGregor pulling off a fine point-blank save to deny Fredi Kanoute within 15 minutes.

Rangers, of course, can only presently dream of Sevilla’s strength. Smith’s future is on the line as he struggles to accept a lack of finance to bring in new players. His debt-ridden club has effectively been on the market without sufficient interest from potential suitors for

five years. Occasions such as this therefore provide a rare opportunity to demonstrate what glimmers of hope exist within Ibrox. Lee McCulloch was anxious to accept such a chance, twice supplying a response to Kanoute’s shot before the interval.

Whether through a realisation that Champions League football was a notable loss for them last season after an embarrassing qualifying round exit to FBK Kaunas or simply an unwillingness to let Sevilla’s visit regress into another haves versus have nots, Rangers closed the opening half in rousing fashion. They should also have ended it with a one-goal lead.

Rangers denied a penalty The home support were rightly irate as Eriksson failed to award their team a 36th-minute penalty. Konko hauled down Naismith inside the area after Rangers’ lone striker had capitalised on his opponent’s blunder. Jesus Navas almost compounded the anger on and off the field, but fired wildly over McGregor’s goal.

Konko, fittingly if cruelly, proved more accurate. He rose

unchallenged before planting a header beyond McGregor, just five minutes into the second period, from Nava’s latest teasing cross. What had opened as a tale of what-if had now become one of woe.

Dubiety, however, was nowhere near prevalent as Sevilla effectively killed the contest.

Luis Fabiano was afforded time and space on the left flank before supplying a pinpoint cut-back which Adriano cleanly dispatched for a second goal. Rangers, earlier bullish, were now browbeaten with injustice overtaken by harsh realities.

It is at times such as these that Smith required the experience of those who have chartered territory such as this before. Yet Pedro Mendes, a Champions League winner with Porto, grew increasingly anonymous as the minutes ticked down. Kanoute was proving considerably more prominent, his cross from deep allowing Fabiano to head Sevilla’s third. The favour was instantly returned as Kanoute slotted past McGregor at Rangers’ back post, his outstanding strike partner the architect. Cue an exodus from earlier expectant Ibrox stands. THE GUARDIAN

two wins out of two in the Champions League with a comfortable 4-0 victory at Hungarian champions Debrecen at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium on Tuesday night. The French side made light of several absences to roar into an unassailable halftime lead through Kim Kallstrom, Miralem Pjanic and Sidney Govou, inflicting upon their hosts a forgettable home debut in Europe’s premier cup competition. Bafetimbi Gomis lobbed in the fourth after heading the ball past Debrecen goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic early in the second period, as Lyon established a three-point lead over Liverpool and Fiorentina at the top of Group E. “I think we made the game look easy,” said Lyon coach Claude Puel. AFP

Who owns Leeds Utd?  LONDON – The mystery of

the ownership of Leeds United has deepened after the club’s chairman, Ken Bates, admitted that he had made “an error” when he said in January that he jointly owned the club. Bates had previously informed a court in Jersey that he and his long-term financial adviser, Patrick Murrin, each held one “management share” in Forward Sports Fund, the Cayman Islands-registered company that owns Leeds. Yet in an affidavit sworn for the same court in May, Bates stated that in fact he does not have any shares in Forward at all. His statement that he had been the joint owner, was “not correct”, he said, and “an error on my part”. THE GUARDIAN

TUesday’s results UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Fiorentina 2 Liverpool 0 Debrecen 0 Lyon 4 Rubin Kazan 1 Inter Milan 1 Barcelona 2 Dynamo Kiev 0 Unirea Urziceni 1 Stuttgart 1 Rangers 1 Sevilla 4 Arsenal 2 Olympiakos 0 AZ Alkmaar 1 Standard Liege 1

24

THE PHNOM PENH POST OCTOBER 1, 2009

SPORT England blown away despite Vettori’s reprieve for runout Brave New Zealand defeated England by four wickets at the Wanderers Tuesday to join them in the semi finals of the Champions Trophy one day cricket tournament

BY David Hopps JOHANNESBURG

T

HE Champions Trophy might not be the biggest tournament in the world, but it certainly does a roaring trade in moral dilemmas. England have played three times and on each occasion captains have spent half the night agonising over “The Spirit of Cricket”. At this rate, umpires raising fingers will soon be replaced by priests administering blessings.

England were already assured of a semi final place and New Zealand now join them after a four-wicket victory Tuesday on the most bowlerfriendly pitch of the tournament. And England’s captain Andrew Strauss admitted that after sterling wins against Sri Lanka and South Africa, his team had been “soundly beaten”.

But the defeat could have been much more substantial had not New Zealand’s captain Daniel Vettori withdrawn a run-out appeal against Paul Collingwood that as far as the laws are concerned, was perfectly legal. He went on to topscore with 40 from 58 balls, three legside sixes striking the only defiant note of England’s innings as they failed to cope with a quick, cracked pitch with indifferent bounce.

England were 27 for three in the 11th over, when Collingwood wandered from his crease after leaving the last ball of the over, from Kyle Mills, and was run out by the wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.

The match referee, Roshan Mahanama, confirmed that the wicket was broken before the umpire Daryl Harper called “over”. Strauss later revealed that Collingwood accepted that “if he had been given out he would only have had himself to blame for being dozy”.

But cricket’s sense of fair play is running at maximum.

As Asad Rauf called for a thirdumpire verdict from square

New Zealand wicket keeper Brendon McCullum plays a cunning shot during the ICC Champions Trophy match against England at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday. AFP

leg, Harper intervened and, upon his instigation, Vettori held lengthy discussions with the umpires and then his team-mates. Just to confuse matters, the big screen flashed up that Collingwood was out about the same time that Vettori allowed him a reprieve. “Paul had no intention of making a run and it was much easier just to get on with the game,” Vettori said. “Under the laws of the game it was out, but the Spirit of the Game is in the forefront of most people’s minds recently.”

The striking fact here is that McCullum has made a habit of such practice, and with New Zealand’s approval. In a Christchurch Test three years ago, with the ball still “live”, he threw down the stumps to run out Muttiah Muralitharan, who had walked out of his crease to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara upon making a century. A year earlier, in Bulawayo, McCullum ran out Chris Mpofu when he walked down the pitch to congratulate Blessing Mahwire upon his maiden Test fifty.

Freakishly, England have been involved in three controversial incidents in as many

matches. There was Collisiongate, when Strauss withdrew a run-out appeal against Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews because he had collided with Graham Onions. Then there was Crampgate, the time Strauss refused to allow South Africa’s Graeme Smith a runner in the latter stages at Centurion. Now, as Collingwood did a spot of gardening, we even had Garden Gate.

One of the strangest comments on this tournament had come from Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan batsman and now, in the latest of many guises, the director of the PCB. Javed had suggested that pitches here had been “dangerous”, in fact downright “scary”. Everybody was mystified. Then New Zealand won the toss under overcast skies, put England in and we had an inkling what he meant.

It was only an inkling because batting was not impossible, and only Shane Bond in this New Zealand attack musters what could be described as ferocious pace. But the pitch was fast and bouncy and riddled with cracks, making batting a hazardous business. England, 13 for three by

the sixth over, never regained equilibrium.

It took two deliveries for them to recognise the extent of their task, Strauss falling for nought as a ball from Mills reared off a length. Joe Denly unveiled one exquisite backfoot drive which illustrated why he is regarded so highly, then Bond jagged an excellent delivery back. As for Owais Shah’s swipe at a good-length ball from Bond, England have

avowed that they “will not die wondering”, but this bordered on the suicidal. Ravi Bopara, ninth out for 30, summoned some resistance, but even that came against the backdrop of Grant Elliott’s best one-day figures of four for 31, Collingwood his first victim as he pulled a ball that got big on him to the leaping Ross Taylor at short midwicket..

If there had been debate about McCullum’s sharp practice in running out of Collingwood (the majority pronouncing it acceptable), there was none about his batting. Any difficulty that New Zealand expected in chasing 147 was blown aside by McCullum’s freewheeling 48 from 39 balls with Martin Guptill, 53 from 55 balls, a trainee in his wake.

McCullum batted with growing abandon, nothing better than a wristy six over cover, on the charge against Ryan Sidebottom, followed by a searing square cut the next ball.

Four wickets for Stuart Broad won England some respectability, but the opening stand of 84 in 12.3 overs had settled the game. “The semi final will be in Centurion [Friday] and conditions are different there,” said Strauss.

“I’m irritated, but we have to put this out of our minds.”

THE GUARDIAN

Dolphins call up Thigpen l MIAMI – Tyler Thigpen, a

third-year quarterback who started 11 games for Kansas City last year, was obtained by Miami Tuesday as the Dolphins announced injured passer Chad Pennington is done for the season. Pennington, who suffered a shoulder injury in a loss Sunday at San Diego, was placed upon the National Football League’s injured reserve list to open a roster spot for Thigpen. Almost certain of right shoulder surgery for the third time in four years, Pennington was unable to guide the Dolphins to a victory in three games this season after putting them into last year’s playoffs. AFP

Red Sox grab wild-card l BOSTON – The Boston Red

Sox clinched the American League wild-card berth as the Los Angeles Angels recorded a 5-2 win to eliminate the Texas Rangers from the race. The Red Sox (91-66) earned their seventh Major League Baseball wild-card berth despite losing 8-7 to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier Tuesday night. It was the team’s fifth straight loss.

The Red Sox, who won the World Series in 2004 and 2007, will play the Angels (93-64) in the first round of the AL Division Series for the third year in a row. BLOOMBERG

Massa back on the track l SAO PAULO, Brazil – Felipe

Massa has driven a racing car for the first time since he sustained a life-threatening head injury at the Hungarian grand prix in July. The Brazilian drove seven laps in a kart Monday. A source close to the Ferrari driver who did not want to be identified said that Massa drove the kart at a circuit outside São Paulo. He was accompanied by friends and his doctor, Dino Altmann. Altmann told Massa to avoid driving for more than an hour, to avoid back pain, but light rain that became steadily worse stopped the driver completing more than seven laps. THE GUARDIAN

Sharapova makes semis l TOKYO – Crowd-favourite

England’s Paul Collingwood (front, third right) talks with umpire Roshan Mahanama (second left) and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori (left) after a run out decision during their ICC Champions Trophy match Tuesday. AFP

Maria Sharapova stormed into the quarter finals by beating fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova in the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament Wednesday. The former world number one, the champion in 2005, fompleted a come-frombehind victory over her 29thranked compatriot. AFP