8 killed in Kashmir fight; India locks down cities

29 June 2010, SRINAGAR, India — Five suspected insurgents and three Indian soldiers died in a fierce gunbattle in divided Kashmir when the militants tried to cross over from Pakistan into the Indian-controlled portion, an army officer said on Tuesday.

Tension has been rising in Kashmir as government forces allegedly have killed at least eight other people over the past two weeks during protests demanding the region’s independence from India.

Thousands of police in riot gear patrolled the main city, Srinagar, on Tuesday, and shops, businesses and government offices were shut.

Police and paramilitary soldiers drove through neighborhoods warning people to stay indoors and not participate in pro-independence protests, said Afaq Wani, a Srinagar resident. He said it was almost a curfew-like situation.

Sajad Ahmed, a local police officer, said that no curfew has been imposed but that the state government has banned the assembly in public of more than five people. Troops also erected steel barricades and laid razor wire across main roads to prevent public gatherings.

“We’re imposing restrictions to avoid clashes,” Ahmed said.

Similar restrictions were also imposed in several other towns in the region. In the violence-torn town of Sopore, 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of Srinagar, an indefinite curfew was in force for the fifth consecutive day.

The gunbattle near the India-Pakistan frontier broke out on Monday when a group of suspected militants infiltrated into Indian territory in the Nowgam sector, Col. Vineet Sood, an army spokesman, said Tuesday.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India have fought two wars over Kashmir and, since 1989, Muslim militants have fought in Indian-controlled Kashmir for independence or merger with Pakistan.

India accuses Pakistan of funding and training militants in the Pakistani-held portion of Kashmir and helping them slip over to the Indian side to fight. Islamabad denies the charge.

More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict since 1989.

China fends off Obama pressure over North Korea

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday rejected President Barack Obama's suggestion that it was hiding from the risks posed by North Korea, and said it felt the dangers on the divided Korean peninsula more deeply than Washington.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the rebuke in answer to repeated questions from reporters about comments by Obama over the weekend.

A North Korean soldier guards the banks of the Yalu River near the North Korean town of Sinuiju June 29, 2010. (REUTERS/Jacky Chen)

Beijing has refused to take a firm position on who is to blame for the sinking of a South Korean naval ship, the Cheonan, in late March, killing 46 sailors.

South Korea and other powers say the ship was undoubtedly sunk by a North Korean torpedo, and Pyongyang should suffer consequences. Beijing has urged restraint in dealing with the North, a long-time ally and strategic buffer.

"Now, I am sympathetic to the fact that North Korea is on China's border," Obama told a news conference at the end of the G20 global leaders' summit in Toronto.

"And so when they adopt a posture of restraint, I understand their thinking. But I think there's a difference between restraint and willful blindness to consistent problems," he added.

Chinese spokesman Qin suggested that his government had to be more cautious in handling its neighbour, whose struggling economy depends on Beijing for aid and trade. He said China did not want to "pour petrol on the flames."

"China is a neighbour of the Korean Peninsula, and on this issue our feelings differ from a country that lies 8,000 kilometres distant," Qin told a regular news conference, referring to the United States.

"We feel even more direct and serious concerns," he added.

The North's secretive leader, Kim Jong-il, appears to be in poor health, and his ruling communist party has called a rare meeting in September to elect a new leadership, a move analysts said could formally set in motion succession plans for him to set in place his son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor.

Beijing fears harsh condemnation of Pyongyang over the ship sinking could erode its already-limited leverage over Kim Jong-il, dash any hopes of persuading him to abandon his nuclear weapons, analysts say.

China's 1,415-km (880-mile) border with North Korea could also be overwhelmed by an influx of refugees if the North suffers political and economic collapse.

"On the Cheonan incident, we don't play favourites with any side," said the spokesman Qin. "Conflict on the (Korean) peninsula would suit no sides' interests, and so on this issue, China's position and efforts are beyond reproach." (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

China landslide: hopes fade for 107 trapped

• Associated Press in Beijing
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 June 2010 11.21 BST
• Article history

Soldiers evacuate residents from the site of a landslide in Dazhai Village, Guanling county in south-west China. Photograph: Chinafotopress/Getty Images

Hope of finding survivors was diminishing today as rescuers used heavy machinery including bulldozers to search for at least 107 people trapped under a landslide in south-west China.

Villagers huddled in tents set up at the site as rescuers searched for survivors.

But there appeared to be little hope, with no word by midday today, said Tian Maosheng, an official from Guizhou Communist party propaganda department, who is helping with the rescue.

"The number 107 remains unchanged, and there is still no sign of life here," he said.

Homes were buried when the landslide struck the village of Dazhai in Guizhou province yesterday afternoon after days of torrential rains. An official interviewed by state broadcaster CCTV said nearly half a hill had collapsed.

Makeshift tents were set up as first aid stations and soldiers waded through water and mud as they evacuated more than 360 residents.

Light rain this morning hindered rescue efforts, threatening to wash more mud down the slopes, but began to subside later in the day.

Large areas of southern China have been hit by flooding in the last two weeks, with at least 377 people killed and another 142 missing – not including those from Monday's landslide. More than 3 million people have fled their homes over the past two weeks, according to the ministry of civil affairs.

On Sunday floodwaters began receding in the south and workers finished repairing a dike breach that forced the evacuation of 100,000 people.

Mexico to press ahead with vote despite slaying

Play Video AP – Raw Video: Election violence plagues Mexico

AP – Army soldiers guard the crime scene after candidate for governor of the state of Tamaulipas, Rodolfo …

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writer Olga R. Rodriguez, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 1 min ago

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico – Mexican politicians vowed to press on with elections despite the assassination of the leading candidate for governor of a border state, urging frightened citizens to vote and show they are not intimidated by drug cartels threatening the country's democracy.

Gunmen ambushed Rodolfo Torre's campaign caravan Monday less than a week before he was expected to win the governor's race in Tamaulipas, a state torn by a turf battle between two rival drug cartels. Four other people were killed: three of the candidate's bodyguards and a state lawmaker.

President Felipe Calderon called the attack an attempt drug gangs to sway Sunday's elections for governors and mayors in 12 states. He warned that cartels want "to interfere in the decisions of citizens and in electoral processes."

"Organized crime will never meet its objectives. It will not succeed in shaking our faith in democracy or undermine our confidence in the future of Mexico," Calderon said in a televised speech.

But the attack emptied streets in Ciudad Victoria, the Tamaulipas state capital where Torre was killed. Heavily armed federal and state police patrolled in caravans. Some parents rushed to pick up their children from schools.

"I am not going to vote because there is a lot of fear. The tension is very strong," said Maria Pilar Villegas, a convenience store clerk who said she was on the phone with her sister when she saw the news of the assassination on television. "I got chills when I saw the TV."

Torre, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, is the first gubernatorial candidate assassinated in Mexico in recent memory. He is the highest-ranking candidate killed since Luis Donaldo Colosio, also for the PRI, was gunned down while running for president in 1994.

Torre's death was the biggest setback yet for the elections. Corruption scandals, threats and attacks on politicians have raised fears for months that Mexico's powerful drug cartels are buying off candidates they support and intimidating those they oppose.

Calderon's government did not say which gang was suspected in Torre's assassination or why he would be targeted.

Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, has become a battleground between the Gulf cartel and its former ally, the Zetas gang of hit men. Gangs have staged bold attacks on security forces, ambushing military patrols and setting up blockades near army garrisons.

Last month, gunmen killed Jose Guajardo Varela, a candidate for mayor of the Tamaulipas town of Valle Hermoso. Guajardo, of Calderon's National Action Party, or PAN, had received warnings to drop his campaign.

Leaders of the PAN and the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, had said they could not find anyone to run for mayor in some towns in Tamaulipas because of drug gang intimidation. PAN and PRD leaders have insinuated that the PRI has ties to drug gangs in the state, noting that the party has had no trouble fielding candidates in towns where other politicians are too scared to run.

The PRI, which has long governed Tamaulipas, has dismissed such talk as tired campaign tactics.

Tamaulipas Gov. Eugenio Hernandez said he didn't know of any threats against Torre, a doctor who had served as the state's health secretary. Hernandez said Torre didn't express any fear when the two met Sunday to watch the World Cup game between Mexico and Argentina.

"We couldn't see this attack coming at all," Hernandez said in an interview with Milenio television.

Torre, 46, was heading from Ciudad Victoria to the border city of Matamoros to accompany the PRI's mayoral candidates in the closing of their campaigns Monday.

Jorge Luis Navarro, president of the Tamaulipas state election institute, said the vote would go forward.

PRI national leader Beatriz Paredes urged supporters to go the polls. "Nothing is going to intimidate us," she said in a statement. There was no announcement on who the PRI candidate would be.

The PAN and the PRD said they would suspend campaigning by their own gubernatorial candidates in Tamaulipas.

Elsewhere in Mexico, campaigning continued, with candidates urging voters not to fear.

"They are not going to intimidate us. We are going to continue until Sunday with the same intensity," said Jose Francisco Olvera, the PRI candidate for the central state of Hidalgo.

The PRI, which ruled Mexico for 71 years until losing the presidency in 2000, is hoping that a strong showing in Sunday's elections will put it on the path to regain the presidency in 2012.

Polls had indicated that Torre would easily win the election in Tamaulipas.

The conservative PAN has formed uncomfortable alliances with the PRD to oust the PRI from several states, though not in Tamaulipas.

That alliance, however, was sorely tested by the worst corruption scandal of the election.

Cancun mayor Gregorio Sanchez, of the PRD, was arrested last month for allegedly protecting two brutal drug cartels, forcing him to drop his campaign for governor of Quintana Roo state. His leftist party has dismissed the allegations as a political ploy by Calderon's government.

Drug gang violence has rocketed since Calderon deployed thousands of troops and federal police across the country in 2006 to wage an all-out battle against cartels. Some 23,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence.

George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, said Torre's assassination would keep many voters home, but he expected the situation would only benefit the PRI.

"The ... climate of fear will dampen voter turnout on Sunday, which will help the PRI because they have the best political machine," he said.

Gregorio Linares, a waiter an at upscale restaurant where Torre and other politicians were frequent customers, said the city was growing accustomed to violence. Two months earlier, a shootout between soldiers and gunmen had erupted near the restaurant. But he said Torre's death would only encourage him to vote for the PRI's new candidate.

Cambodian children game their way to life-saving skills

Wed, 23 Jun 2010
By Robert Carmichael
DPA

Phnom Penh - It is a familiar scene in many countries: Children huddled around a computer game, chipping in with instructions, competing and encouraging each other.

But this is no ordinary game. In a Phnom Penh orphanage, a dozen children are testing a unique US-designed program its inventors hope would reduce deaths and injuries by landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Four decades of conflict have left Cambodia with an unenviable legacy of millions of such explosives. Last year, 47 Cambodians were killed and 196 injured by them. Around a third were children, most of them boys.

It would take decades to rid the country of mines, so educating people on how to recognize the risks they pose is vital. But these efforts are typically passive, using presentations or leaflets.

The computer game requires active participation, says Professor Frank Biocca of Michigan State University, where the game was developed.

Biocca was in Phnom Penh in June overseeing testing ahead of the game's expected launch there later this year. He says active involvement in the game, which is targeted at 6- to 15-year-olds, means the children retain more information.

Twelve-year-old Sin explains the game's purpose: Find food for his electronic dog while keeping a sharp eye out for landmines.

"We walk straight, and if we see the red danger sign, then we turn around and come back," he says. "Or we can turn left or right to avoid the landmine."

The on-screen landscape is comprised of photographs of Cambodia's countryside, which makes it both realistic for the children and cost-effective. The warning signs are also local: red signs with a white skull, a red-and-white striped pole, an inverted red triangle.

When the player gets it wrong, an explosion fills the screen, accompanied by a loud boom. Both the dog and child avatars cower but are deliberately uninjured, and a man in a Cambodian demining uniform appears on-screen, blowing his whistle and explaining what happened.

The game began its life as a request two years ago to the university in East Lansing, Michigan, by the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, a charity that provides technical assistance for international demining operations.

The university's final-year project for one of its undergraduate programmes sees students building so-called "serious games" - games with a purpose beyond entertainment. The mine education game struck a chord.

"We decided this specific project was something to continue to pursue with a focus on making it work across different platforms and making sure it can be updated for different markets cheaply," Biocca says.

Allen Tan heads Golden West's regional office, which provided the developers with technical information and images for the game. Tan, a former bomb-disposal expert in the US Army, says the game has the potential to benefit dozens of countries.

"Certainly any post-conflict zone could be a target for this type of training and especially those with young populations that might not have been around when the conflict happened," he says.

The game runs on Windows, Mac OS and Linux operating systems, the last of which is the standard operating system for the One Laptop Per Child initiative, the effort to get computers into the hands of children across the world at a cost of 100 dollars per laptop.

But Biocca says developers started off assuming it had to work on other platforms too, including the internet and mobile phones.

"We think that, ultimately, the true 100-dollar laptop is the cellphone - some version of the cellphone is becoming the Third World computational device," he says. "And those are selling for underneath 100 dollars."

He says that once the game has been launched in Cambodia, it would be adapted for other countries to reflect their culture, landscape, languages and even their landmine signs - all for 1,000 to 10,000 dollars per country.

Biocca says the game could even be altered to educate people about other health issues that require learning, such as influencing sexual behaviour or diet.

So much for the brains behind the development - what did the kids think of the game? Fourteen-year-old Lai loved it.

"If I were to go to the countryside and saw a landmine sign, then I would walk away from that place," he says. "I wouldn't go near it. I would take a different path."

Twelve-year-old Minea echoes those sentiments.

"Walk far away from that place," he says of the lessons learned from his 15-minute session. "Don't touch anything, and don't play anywhere near there."

Court issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Sam Rainsy

Wednesday, 23 June 2010
By Khmerization Sources: CEN & RFA

A Phnom Penh court has issued a court warrant for the arrest of Sam Rainsy (pictured), leader of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, in relations to charges of document forgery when he produced maps and documents showing Vietnam's encroachments of Cambodian borders.

Now, Mr. Rainsy is living in exile in Paris and there reports that court will send an arrest warrant to the French Embassy seeking his arrest. However, Mrs. Laurence Bernardi , a spokeswoman for the French Embassy, said that the Embassy has not yet received the warrant.

On 27th January, the Phnom Penh court convicted him of sabotage and destruction of public properties and sentenced him to 2 years jail. Soon after, he released a series of documents and maps alleging Vietnam's encroachments but the Cambodian authority said he faked the maps and the documents and charged him with forgery.

Hun Sen is the top divider among Khmer compatriots and King's visit to Vietnam likely serves the Vietnamese imperialism

Political Analysis Today:

Hun Sen is just the top divider among Khmer compatriots. He is a jerk of foreigner. All his speech is rational for Kmeng Wat and uneducated mad dogs only. His irritating speech to Surya Subedi, the representative of the UNs is unacceptable among Khmer intellectuals. But only those monkeys in the power who have applauded Hun Sen.

Op-Ed: Khmer Young

If the King didn't deliver any message from Chinese leader to Triet, King is certainly used by Triet to speed up his imperialistic attempt over Cambodia. It exactly through the propaganda of "friendship", "good neighbor" or "cooperation" etc.

The Triet's word about "good neighboring" is useful for Vietnam only as Cambodia has lost competitiveness to Vietnam in all fields:

1. Cambodia has no investors and contingents in Vietnam at all. But Vietnam has pursued full potential in both political, social and economical collateral in Cambodia.
2. Cambodian illegal immigrants to Vietnam have been repatriated mercilessly, but illegal Vietnamese immigrants in Cambodia have been taken care very well by the Cambodian authority, including seeking an appropriate land for them to resettle.
3. Khmer Kampuchea Krom people have been neglected by the King whose pseudonym is Father of all Khmer Children, but his trip to Vietnam left his children in Khmer Krom in a dark position.
4. King's visit to Vietnam is coincident to the pressing issue of border markers and border encroachment which opposition leader has been trialed as well as the farmers have been jailed...so indirectly King's visit this time is to intensify the punishment of those Khmer compatriots.
5. Every aspect of political changes in Cambodia is unusually favoring Vietnam at the expense of Khmer's death for its future such as "paying gratitude to Vietnamese soldiers who come to liberate Cambodians from Khmer Rouge" which this phrase has become a well-known propaganda in Cambodia among youths and some unknown people to vote for the CPP. Of course, the international communities and the UNs have already condemned that the presence of Vietnamese troops in Cambodia was the invasion, not the liberation.
   

All few aforementioned points critically displays the unfaithful "good neighboring" repeatedly mentioned by the Vietnamese leaders.

King Sihanouk and Hun Sen have been failed into this trap unconsciously. While King Sihanouk visited Vietnam, Hun Sen has been fooled by his intelligent advisers about the main cause of the war originated by Lon Nol's coup detat. Hun Sen's statement is just part of his blindness because he didn't realize that his speech is to make more divisions among Khmers, and it will benefit more to the foreigner.

Lon Nol has been already dead like Pol Pot, but why Hun Sen has used these two regimes as the pretext to the media and public curiosity? Of course, the coup detat was not Lon Nol only. It was the trend of the cold war, and Lon Nol had become a tool of this trend. If Sihanouk didn't escape to Russia and China, how can Lon Nol be able to defy him? If the US didn't confront with the China and Russia in that situation, how can Lon Nol be able to attain a coup? If Southern Vietnam didn't incorporate with Lon Nol, how could Lon Nol be able to accomplish the coup? -- all these critical thinking and seeking things outside the box must be inserted into Hun Sen's ears from right to left, and from left to right several times.

This example can apply well to the issue of Pol Pot. Pol Pot came to power because of the help from Vietcong and China. This is the fact! The atrocity committed by Pol Pot is not worse than those perpetrators whom created the Pol Pot at the beginning.

Hun Sen is just the top divider among Khmer compatriots. He is a jerk of foreigner. All his speech is rational for Kmeng Wat and uneducated mad dogs only. His irritating speech to Surya Subedi, the representative of the UNs is unacceptable among Khmer intellectuals. But only those monkeys in the power who have applauded Hun Sen.

The ignorance of Hun Sen will disclose more facts until the land of Angkor Borei are totally controlled by the smarter people.

94 Cambodian deminers, military police return home from Africa

June 22, 2010
Xinhua

After spending for a year in mission abroad, 94 Cambodian deminers and military police returned home on Tuesday.

Tea Banh, deputy prime minister and minister of national defense, welcomed the 94 returnees at Phnom Penh Military Airport.

He said 52 deminers had spent more than one year in Sudan, while another 42 security officers for social order spent almost eight months for their missions in Chad and Central African Republic.

"We are gathering together today for proudly congratulating for the safe home-coming of the 405-1 Royal Cambodian Armed Forces' Demining Company and it is the fourth time that our sacred forces has brought home dignity and success from the U.N mission in Sudan and also the great success of the movement control unit 306 returning before the schedule from Chad and Central African Republic," Tea Banh said.

He further said that "our mission is to fulfill our job with gratitude and international ethics for all mankind and peace."

Prak Sokhon, advisor to Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, and chairman of National Coordination Committee of U.N. Peacekeeping Operation, said Tuesday that, since 2005, 568 Cambodians have been sent to Sudan, Chad, and Central African Republic in the form of the U.N. peace keeping operation.

Over the past four years, Prak Sokhon said, Cambodian peace keeping operators have cleared land covered by landmines and unexploded ordinance for about 77 million square meters, 2,546 land mines, 220 anti-tank mines, 59,108 pieces of unexploded ordnance, and 118,913 pieces of shrapnel.

On Sunday, Cambodia dispatched 52 deminers, replacing the 52 returnees in a way to continue international cooperation and obligation as a state member of the United Nations.

As of now, none of Cambodian deminers ever met incident in their mission abroad, said Prak Sokhonhe, adding that they were qualified and skillful with their demining techniques.

Cambodia is also working with the United Nations in a plan to dispatch some 200 Cambodian troops as peacekeepers to Lebanon.

Calif. man in attempted Cambodian coup gets prison

Chhun Yasith

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
AP

LOS ANGELES — A California accountant was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday in Los Angeles for orchestrating a failed attempt to overthrow the Cambodian government in 2000.

Yasith Chhun, 53, of Long Beach, was found guilty in 2008 of three counts of conspiracy and one count of engaging in a military expedition against a nation with which the United States is at peace.

Chhun, a naturalized U.S. citizen who fled Cambodia as a refugee in 1982, grew frustrated with the lack of free elections under what he viewed as the oppressive regime of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former member of the Khmer Rouge under dictator Pol Pot, said Chhun's attorney, Richard Callahan.

"He saw Hun Sen as on an even par with Pol Pot," Callahan said.

Chhun also wanted to avenge the death of his father, who was beheaded by Khmer Rouge soldiers as Chhun looked on.

Chhun was found guilty after a two-week trial, during which prosecutors said he had planned "Operation Volcano" to Sen's government.

"We're here because a jury found that the defendant deliberately tried to kill other human beings," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lamar Baker.

Chhun headed a group known as the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, which accused Sen of being a dictator and helping rig elections so he could stay in power.

Prosecutors said Chhun had planned the operation for two years and had traveled to the region to assemble a rebel force. He raised money by holding fundraisers at the Queen Mary, which is permanently docked in Long Beach.

Prosecutors also believe Chhun was behind a February 1999 bombing of a bar in Cambodia that injured several people.

"Operation Volcano" was launched on Thanksgiving 2000 at the direction of Chhun, who was across the border in Thailand.

About 200 rebel troops showed up to fight, and they were quickly subdued after attacking various government buildings in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

In a rambling statement before his sentencing, Chhun told the judge that he started his movement as a nonviolent protester.

"The result is, nothing happened," Chhun said, adding that his approach changed as he saw Sen's troops "kill more people."

Callahan said the prosecution of Chhun was politically motivated because the U.S., which at the time was expanding its war on terror, was seeking international cooperation from countries in Southeast Asia.

"He was a sacrificial lamb to make sure everything went well in Southeast Asia," Callahan said. "Otherwise, the story doesn't make sense."

Callahan said he planned to appeal.

Siahnouk's visit to Hanoi: It's a family affair?

President Nguyen Minh Triet and his wife welcome Cambodian King Sihamoni, former King Sihanouk, and his wife. (Photo: VNA)

Cambodian former King begins Vietnam visit

Wednesday,Jun 23,2010
Saigon Giai Phong (Vietcong Communist Party)

Cambodia’s former King Norodom Sihanouk, his wife Norodom Moninieth Sihanouk, and King Norodom Sihamoni arrived in Hanoi on June 22, beginning a four-day friendship visit to Vietnam.

Later in the day, State President Nguyen Minh Triet, who had invited the Cambodian guests, met with former King Norodom Sihanouk and his wife.

President Triet applauded the ongoing visit of former King Sihanouk, his wife and King Sihamoni, describing it as milestone in the traditional friendly neighbourliness and cooperation between the two countries.

President Triet and former King Sihanouk recalled the profound memories during the time Vietnam and Cambodia united and supported each other to struggle for national independence.

The Vietnamese people and generations of leaders always keep in mind, are grateful and respect deep sentiments, valuable support and great assistance that former King Norodom Sihanouk and the people of Cambodia have extended to Vietnam in the past as well as at present, the president said.

Former King Sihanouk took this occasion to thank the Vietnamese people and leaders for their affections, huge support and assistance to him, his wife, King Sihamoni and the people of Cambodia .

Both host and guest expressed delight at the fine development of the time-honoured friendly relations between the two nations, and belief that their neighbourliness and cooperation would further develop for prosperity of each nation as well as and for peace, friendship, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

In the evening, President Triet hosted a banquet in honour of former King Sihanouk, his wife and King Sihamoni.

Venerable Tim Sakhorn: “I don’t hate Venerable Long Kimleang because he is Khmer”

On June 19, 2010, about two hundred Khmer and Khmer-Krom around the world came to Wat Khemara Rangsey in San Jose to welcome Venerable Tim Sakhorn visiting San Jose. In the morning, the Buddhist ceremony was conducted by Sixteen Buddhist monks from Canada, Sweden, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Northern California.


After lunch, the representatives of the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation, leading by KKF President, Mr. Thach Ngoc Thach, Venerable TT Dhammo, Venerable Tran Ky Chanhtha, gave their short speeches to explain about the reason why there was a meeting in San Jose to welcome Venerable Tim Sakhorn. The main reason was to give the Khmer and Khmer-Krom in the Bayarea an opportunity to hear the real story of how Venerable Tim Sakhorn was arrested and who involved arresting Venerable Tim Sakhorn.
Venerable Tim Sakhorn was introduced and gave a wonderful talk regarding to how he was arrested and deported from Cambodia by Cambodian monks and Cambodian Authorities to imprison him in Vietnam. He also talked about how he was forced to admit an alleged crime that he did not commit and how he was treated, injected unknown medication, and tortured in the Vietnam’s prison.


Venerable Tim Sakhorn clearly addressed that Venerable Long Kimleang who is currently staying at Wat Khmer San Jose (2751 Mervyn’s Way, San Jose, CA 95127) directly stripped off his frock when he was refused to be defrocked injustice.

Venerable Long Kimleang and the President of Wat Khmer San Jose were officially invited with the written invitation letter to attend the meeting, but they did not come. The Secretary of Wat Khmer San Jose who used to say that the story of Tim Sakhorn was the only one-side story also did not come to the meeting even he was invited on the Phone.

During the Q&A section, many people asked many questions to Venerable Tim Sakhorn. One question directly addressed to Venerable Long Kimleang that if Venerable Tim Sakhorn meets Venerable Long Kimleang, what would he say to Venerable Long Kimleang? Did he hate Venerable Long Kimleang?

It was amazing to see how Venerable Tim Sakhorn answered those questions. He said that he doesn’t hate Venerable Long Kimleang because Venerable Long Kimleang is KHMER. He wished that Venerable Long Kimleang would come to the meeting so he could ask him why Venerable Long Kimleang had to defrock him and sent him to imprison in Vietnam. If Venerable Long Kimleang just followed someone’s order, then he should come to tell who ordered him.

Because Venerable Long Kimleang, the President and Secretary of Wat San Jose did not come to the meeting to meet Venerable Tim Sakhorn, it raised many questions for people to think about. Moreover, there was a voting to determine if the committee members of Wat Khmer San Jose will allow Venerable Long Kimleang to stay at their temple or not because Venerable Long Kimleang was secretly sponsored by the President of Wat Khmer San Jose without the consent of the committee members or the Abbot of Wat Khmer San Jose. The final voting result as a resolution is to not accepting Venerable Long Kimleang to stay at Wat Khmer San Jose and send him back to Cambodia. The President and Secretary of Wat Khmer San Jose refused to implement that voting result.

These are the questions that people think after listening to Venerable Tim Sakhorn: If Venerable Long Kimleang just followed someone’s order, why didn’t he come to tell in front of Venerable Tim Sakhorn? Because he scared to confront the truth, does it mean that Venerable Long Kimleang comes to the US with another mission because he used to tell Venerable Tim Sakhorn that he would “destroy” all the Khmer-Krom monks? Those unanswered questions would never be answered if Venerable Long Kimleang still scares to say and confront the truth.

CN-235 Tampil di Integrated Expo Indonesia 2010 Banglades

20 April 2010, Jakarta -- Jakarta, Produk industri strategis Indonesia, pesawat CN-235 produksi PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI), berencana meramaikan "Expo Indonesia 2010" pada 11-13 Mei, di Banglades.

Dalam siaran pers yang diterima ANTARA di Jakarta, Selasa, Duta Besar RI untuk Banglades di Dhaka, Zet Mirzal Zainuddin mengemukakan pameran tersebut akan menampilkan berbagai produk ekspor dari industri strategik dan nonstrategik Indonesia.

Beberapa produk dari industri strategik yang ditampilkan antara lain produk dari CN-235 dari PT DI, produk industri peralatan kendaraan militer dari PT PINDAD, serta gerbong kereta api buatan PT INKA.

Sedangkan produk industri otomotif yang ikut dipamerkan dalam ajang tersebut yakni kendaraan bermotor jenis mini "multi purpose vehicle" seperti Suzuki APV, Toyota Avanza, serta ban mobil produk GT.

Expo Indonesia 2010 yang mengambil tema "Integrated Expo 2010: Discover Indonesia, the Beauty Unlimited" tersebut, juga akan menampilkan produk industri kecil menengah yang ikut dipamerkan antara lain furniture, kosmetik, handuk, kerajinan tangan dan aneka macam batik serta produk tenun songket dari berbagai daerah Nusantara, alat musik tradisional seperti gamelan jawa, angklung.

Sebelumnya, dalam pertemuan bisnis yang dihadiri Menteri Pariwisata, Sekjen Perdagangan dan Kebudayaan, serta Asosiasi Kadin Banglades pada 17 April lalu, Duta Besar RI Zet Mirzal mengungkapkan bahwa persahabatan, persaudaraan, dan "emotional link" antara Indonesia dan Banglades telah terjalin dengan sangat baik dan erat sejak dulu, yang ditandai bahwa kedua negara mempunyai banyak kesamaan dalam sejarah, kultur budaya dan agama.

Expo kali ini, menurut dia, akan merupakan salah satu langkah positif dan penting yang akan memberikan arti dalam pelaksanaan nyata pengembangan kerja sama bilateral Indonesia dan Banglades.

Selain itu, ia mengharapkan, ajang ini dapat lebih meningkatkan pasar ekspor komoditas Indonesia di Banglades dan peningkatan jumlah arus wisatawan Banglades untuk berkunjung ke Indonesia.

Tanggapan Pemerintah Banglades yang diwakili Menteri Pariwisata, Sekjen Perdagangan dan Kebudayaan, serta Asosiasi Kadin Banglades, menurut Zet Mirzal, cukup posotif.

Mereka, lanjutnya, sangat menghargai dan mendukung penyelenggaraan "Integrated Expo Indonesia 2010" di Banglades tersebut.

Lanud Supadio Perlu Radar Militer

20 April 2010, Kubu Raya -- Tiga pesawat tempur jenis Hawk 100 dan Hawk 200 milik Skadron Udara-1 Elang Khatulistiwa, melintas di atas Pangkalan TNI AU Lanud Supadio, Kabupaten Kubu Raya, Kalbar, Senin (19/4). Saat ini sedianya Pangkalan TNI AU Lanud Supadio membutuhkan radar militer guna memantau perkembangan keamanan di kawasan perbatasan Indonesia (Kalbar) - Sarawak (Malaysia Timur) sepanjang 857 kilometer. (Foto: ANTARA/Jessica Wuysang/Koz/hp/10)

Confirmed: Czech Made VERA-E Is In Malaysia Now

VERA-E in Malaysian Armed Forces camouflage and local terrain was shown in a publication at DSA 2010. (photo : KLSR)

Kuala Lumpur, KLS: Source at DSA 2010 confirmed that Czech VERA-E Mobile Long-range Passive Surveillance System is already in Malaysia now.

Previously, Malaysia had signed a MOU with OMNIPOL which is only exporter of VERA-E on August 7th, 2007 at Malaysian Ministry of Defense.

But, top rank officers of MINDEF denied it due to the sensitiveness of importing VERA-E system. VERA-E is reported to be able to detect stealth aircraft

Sertijab Komandan Lanal Tanjung Balai Asahan

Upacara serah terima jabatan ini diikuti oleh personel Lanal Tanjung Balai Asahan dan satuan-satuan lain yang terdapat di wilayah Kota Tanjung Balai Asahan dan Kabupaten Asahan serta aparat maritim lainnya. (Foto: Dispenal)

20 April 2010, Tanjung Balai, Asahan -- Jabatan Komandan Pangkalan Angkatan Laut (Lanal) Tanjung Balai Asahan diserahterimakan dari Danlantamal I, Laksamana Pertama TNI Syarif Husin, kepada pejabat baru Letkol Laut (P) R. Firman Noegraha W., Jumat (16/4) di Mako Lanal Tg. Balai Asahan.

Upacara diikuti oleh personel Lanal Tanjung Balai Asahan dan satuan-satuan lain yang terdapat di wilayah Kota Tanjung Balai Asahan dan Kabupaten Asahan serta aparat maritim lainnya seperti Kodim 0208/AS, Yon 16/KC, Polres Tanjung Balai Asahan, Kompi-3 Brimob Tanjung Balai Asahan, personel Pelabuhan Tanjung Balai Asahan, Bea dan Cukai Tanjung Balai Asahan. Acara ini juga dihadiri oleh para pejabat Muspida Kota Tg. Balai Asahan, Muspida Kab. Asahan, Bupati Batubara dll.

Pejabat baru Komandan Lanal Tanjung Balai Asahan Letkol Laut (P) R. Firman Noegraha W. adalah alumni Akademi Angkatan Laut (AAL)-38 tahun 1992. Pendidikan lain yang pernah diikuti pria kelahiran Purwokerto, 09 Desember 1970 ini antara lain Dikpasis Angk-5 Tahun 1993, S-2 Resource Management TA. 1997/1998, Diklapa-I/Navdir Angk-14 TA.1999/2000 dan Dikreg Seskoal Angk-45 TH. 2008.

Beberapa jabatan yang pernah disandangnya sebelum menjabat sebagai Sebelum menjabat sebagai Komandan Lanal Tanjung Balai Asahan diantaranya adalah sebagai Komandan KRI Teluk Langsa-501, Komandan KRI Teluk Manado-537, Paban Jian Srena Kolinlamil, Komandan KRI Teluk Penyu-513, Sebagai kontingen Garuda XI-12/Unikom di Kuwait dan sebagai Pabandya Opssus di Ban II Sopsal Mabesal. Sedangkan tanda jasa yang dimiliki yaitu Satya Lencana Kesetiaan VIII dan Satya Lencana Komandan KRI.

Pejabat baru Komandan Lanal Tanjung Balai Asahan Letkol Laut (P) R. Firman Noegraha W. adalah alumni Akademi Angkatan Laut (AAL)-38 tahun 1992. (Foto: Dispenal)

Penandatanganan berita acara serah terima jabatan. (Foto: Dispenal)

KRI Dewaruci Tiba di Salalah Oman

20 April 2010, Surabaya -- KRI Dewaruci dalam pelayarannya Muhibah keliling Eropa telah tiba dan merapat di Dermaga Umum Salalah Oman, belum lama ini, Rabu (14/4).

KRI Dewaruci yang dikomandani Letkol laut (P) Suharto dengan jumlah ABK sebanyak 88 orang itu, begitu kapal merapat, disambut oleh Athan RI di Riyadh/Arab Saudi Kolonel Kav Achmad Riad, S.IP dengan didampingi beberapa staf. Selama berada di Oman, Komandan KRI Dewaruci Letkol Laut (P) Suharto dengan didampingi Athan RI Kolonel Kav Achmad Riad melakukan kunjungan ke Salalah Navy Base.

Dalam kunjungan tersebut diterima oleh Komandan Oman Navy Salalah Letkol Laut Humaid Howasal Al Abri. Kemudian kunjungan persahabatan dilanjutkan ke Kantor Pelabuhan Umum Salalah dan diterima oleh Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Ali serta mengunjungi Markas Besar Kepolisian di Salalah Oman. Dalam kunjungan ini diterima oleh Letkol Polisi Rabiah Abdullah Balushi beserta.

Dalam setiap kunjungannya di Oman, diakhiri dengan saling memberikan cinderamata. Selama melaksanakan pelayaran muhibah ke Eropa, beberapa kegiatan kejuaraan lomba layar bergengsi tingkat internasional yang pernah berkali-kali diraih juga akan diikuti sekaligus dipertahankan KRI Dewaruci diantaranya, pada tanggal 12 Mei – 4 Juni mengikuti The Historical Seas Tall Ships Regatta 2010 dengan route: Yunani-Bulgaria-Istambul (Turki). Pada tanggal 13 Juli-7 Agustus 2010 mengikuti The Tall Ships Race 2010 dengan route: Antwerp (Belgia)-Aalborg (Denmark)-Kristiansand (Norwegia)-Hartlepool (Inggris).

Pada tanggal 20-23 Agustus mengikuti festival Sail Amsterdam di Belanda. Pada tanggal 25 – 29 Agustus 2010 mengikuti Sail Brernerhaven 2010 di Jerman. Kemudian pada tanggal 8 – 13 September 2010 mengikuti Festival International Mediferraneo And Velieri di Cagliari (Italia)

Pembukaan Penataran Taktik Bertempur Kodam Diponegoro

20 April 2010, Semarang -- Kasdam IV/Diponegoro, Brigjen TNI Langgeng Sulistiyono, memeriksa pasukan pada upacara pembukaan Penataran Taktik Bertempur, di Daerah Latihan (Rahlat) Meteseh, di Semarang, Jateng, Selasa (20/4). Penataran Taktik Bertempur yang diikuti sebanyak 118 prajurit TNI AD dari berbagai kesatuan di jajaran Kodam IV/Diponegoro itu bertujuan untuk mengantisipasi bergesernya pola pertempuran di masa mendatang, dari pertempuran di daerah pedalaman ke daerah pemukiman dan perkotaan. (Foto: ANTARA/R. Rekotomo/ed/hp/10

Swedia Tawarkan Rumania 24 Gripen Harga Bersaing

19 April 2010 -- Pemerintah Swedia menawarkan pada Rumania 24 jet tempur baru Gripen dengan harga sama dengan jet bekas pakai F-16 yang ditawarkan oleh Amerika Serikat.

Tetapi tawaran Swedia tidak berikut amunisi, sedangkan Amerika Serikat dengan amunisi.

Jerry Lindbergh pejabat Swedia urusan ekspor peralatan pertahanan memberikan keterangan detil saat jumpa press di Bukarest, Rumania.

Ia mengatakan Swedia dapat menyiapkan 24 jet tempur baru Gripen C/D mampu secara penuh interoperasi dengan NATO, berikut pelatihan, dukungan, logistik dan 100 persen offset senilai 1,3 milyar euro.

Pembayaran dalam tempo 15 tahun dengan bunga rendah.

Saab terkejut keputusan Rumania memilih jet tempur bekas pakai F-16.

Bukarest selain mempertimbangkan pembelian 24 jet bekas tetapi juga akan membeli 24 jet tempur siluman F-35 menurut Menteri Pertahanan Rumania, ditujukan memperkuat mitra strategis Rumania-Amerika Serikat.

AFP/@beritahankam

RI-AS Latihan Bersama Pengangkutan Udara

19 April 2010, Jakarta -- Angkatan Udara Republik Indonesia (RI) dan Amerika Serikat (AS) melakukan latihan bersama pengangkutan udara taktis bersandi "cope west 10" mulai 19 hingga 23 April 2010.

Komandan Wing I Pangkalan Udara Halim Perdanakusuma Kolonel Pnb Djoko Senoputro kepada ANTARA di Jakarta, Senin mengatakan, latihan bersama digelar di Pangakalan Udara Halim Perdana Kusuma melibatkan satuan pesawat C-130 Hercules TNI AU dan tiga unit pesawat sejenis dari Wing 376 pangkalan udara AS di Yakoda, Jepang.

"`Cope west 10` merupakan latihan pengangkutan udara taktis bilateral yang melibatkan angkatan udara RI dan AS yang dirancang untuk meningkatkan inter-operabilitas antara angkatan udara kedua negara," katanya.

Latihan bersama tersebut, juga memungkinkan pertukaran teknik yang berkaitan dengan operasi pengangkutan, operasi pendaratan dan penerjunan dari pesawat-pesawat AU RI dan AS.

"Dalam latihan kali ini, kita diperkenalkan dengan sistem dropping udara baru (ICDS) yang bisa dilakukan dari ketinggian 5.000 kaki," ungkap Djoko.

Ia menambahkan, sebelum melakukan dropping, diterjunkan transmiter yang akan mengumpulkan data tentang cuaca, arah dan kecepatan angin. Data kemudian dikirim ke pesawat untuk diolah oleh kru, kemudian dilakukan drooping.

"Latihan ini, sangat membantu untuk operasi militer maupun operasi militer selain perang, seperti saat terjadi bencana dan satu daerah tidak dapat didarati pesawat berbadan besar dan lebar," kata Djoko.

Komandan Wing 376 Letnan Kolonel Dave Kincaid menambahkan, selain memperkenalkan sistem droping udara baru pihaknya juga memberikan beberapa teknik pengangkutan udara.

"Kami juga berlatih bersama `Tactical Low Level, Cargo Drop dan Personel Drop` yang melibatkan unsur-unsur operator pesawat Hercules. Intinya dirancang untuk meningkatkan inter-operabilitas antara angkatan udara kedua negara," katanya.

Latihan dilakukan hingga 23 April 2010 dengan mengambil area latihan Pangkalan Udara Halimperdanakusuma dan Lapangan Gorda, Serang

Pangarmatim Tutup Latihan SAR di Laut

19 April 2010, Surabaya -- Suarabaya, 19 April 2010 Panglima Komando Armada RI Kawasan Timur (Pangarmatim) Laksamana Muda TNI Among Margono, SE secara resmi menutup kegiatan Latihan SAR Laut tahun 2010 di Pusat Latihan (Puslat) Operasi Laut (Opsla) Kolatarmatim Ujung Surabaya, Senin (19/4).

Latihan SAR di laut yang digelar selama sepekan tersebut melibatkan unsur-unsur SAR terkait lainya, yaitu Lantamal V Surabaya, Dinas Penyelamatan Bawah Air (Dislambair), Satuan Pasukan Katak (Satpaska) Koarmatim, RSAL Dr. Ramelan Surabaya, KRI Ajak-653, Kapal Rumah Sakit KRI dr. Soeharso-990, 1 Cassa dan 1 Helikopter NBell-412 dari Puspenerbal (Pusat Penerbangan TNI Angkatan laut), Kantor SAR Surabaya, dan 1 Helikopter BO-105 dari Basarnas.

Metode latihannya sendiri digelar dalam dua tahap, yaitu Latihan Pos dan Komando (Latposko) dan Manuver Lapangan (Manlap). Khusus untuk Manlap, dilaksanakan diperairan Laut Jawa pada tanggal 14-15 April. Bertindak selaku Komandan Satgas Latihan SAR atau SMC (SAR Mission Coordinator) adalah Kolonel Laut (P) Sutaryono yang sehari-hari menjabat Komandan Satuan Kapal Bantu Koarmatim. Dalam sambutannya Pangarmatim mengatakan, kegiatan latihan ini memiliki arti yang sangat penting guna menguji kemampuan dan profesionalisme personel TNI AL serta kesiapan operasi satuan-satuan dalam rangka melaksanakan operasi pencarian dan penyelamatan di laut.


Kesiapsiagaan Alutsista dan personel memiliki peran yang sangat menentukan keberhasilan pelaksanaan tugas-tugas SAR di laut. Latihan ini juga dijadikan sebagai tolok ukur dan referensi dalam mewujudkan keberhasilan dalam menghadapi tugas mendatang. “Keberhasilan dalam latihan ini hendaknya terus dipertahankan bahkan perlu ditingkatkan sehingga pada gilirannya akan mendukung peningkatan kemampuan TNI AL dalam memberikan bantuan SAR laut dan ketanggapsegeraan dalam merespon berbagai bentuk kecelakaan di laut,”kata Pangarmatim.

Dikatakan Pangarmatim, bahwa salah satu indikasi yang mewadahi kesuksesan tersebut adalah keberhasilan para pelaku untuk merumuskan suatu rencana dan melaksanakannya secara tepat waktu, tepat tindak dan tepat sasaran tanpamenimbulkan kerugian yang berarti, baik personel maupun material sehingga dalam latihan inia zero accident dapat terwujud