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Teams to Search for Tuol Sleng Survivors By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh 22 August 2008

At least 177 prisoners were released from Duch's Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 12,000 people were tortured and later executed and dumped in mass graves.

As a trial for jailed prison chief Duch draws nearer, teams for the Documentation Center of Cambodia will begin searching for some 170 survivors of Tuol Sleng prison.

The center's director, Youk Chhang, said Friday about 177 prisoners were released from Tuol Sleng, which was headed by Duch, between 1975 and 1977.

In finding survivors of the prison, the center hopes to bolster the cases against Duch, whose real name is Kaing Kek Iev, for civil parties in the case.

The idea for the search stemmed from an indictment of Duch that was issued earlier this month that did not mention the survivors.

"What is the reason that the co-prosecutors did not include this case in the closing order of Duch?" Youk Chhang said. "Then we thought, we will do historical research, and we want to know further why 177 prisoners were released."

According the center, the prisoners were arrested from Kampong Thom, Kandal, Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu, and other provinces, and then released, between 1975 to 1977.

Some of them were accused of links to the CIA, while others stood accused of loving a forbidden partner. Other charges included attempts to steal the motorcycles of Khmer Rouge cadre and other infractions against the secretive regime.

"In the closing order, co-investigating judges did not mention this, and it seems that in the closing order all people who were detained have been killed," Youk Chhang said. "Indeed, some of them were released."

The center will begin sending teams into the provinces next week in search of the survivors, in hopes of interviewing them and learning why they were released. Documents indicate they were released at the recommendation of other Khmer Rouge cadre.

Co-investigating judge You Bunleng said Friday the center had a right to investigate.

"This is their affair. I cannot give further comment before the plenary trial," he said, adding that investigating judges do not give full details of the csae in their closing orders.

Some documents of the center have already been used by civil party and defense lawyers.

"We think that all the work of NGOs that provides interest in the [tribunal] will provide interest to our citizens," tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said.

Only 10 Tuol Sleng survivors have so far been discovered, and most of those have already died

Ocean waves:
Some small and pitiable.
Some powerful and brave.
The pitiable ones
Don't have the destiny

To reach the white, pure sand
There on the ocean shore.
The ocean waves which are
Strongest of them all
Compete with one another

For victory in the race -
They reach the ocean shore.
Their competition trounced,
But the shore itself is destroyed.

Little monks' dorm at Wat Unalom,
Old and ailing structure, ramshackle d
Here, with faith's conviction, the dorm's builder
P;aced his name to inscribe an ongoing gift.

Now the subscript vowels have fallen off,
Only a few consonants remain
One can't fully link them up to read them
Thus is lost sign of the builder's name.

Oh, mass of clouds, so enormous, like a mountain
it's appropriate you are safe in the sky
It's proper your are so removed from pain and
suffering

Yet you are subject to tempests - that blow, push, ram through-
Defected by thunder 's sounds, smash and destroy it,
Turn it into rain, without bodily substance,
The high imperial realm falling to earth.

Khieu Samphan

Lawyers of jailed Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan said Thursday they were maintaining their request that 16,000 documents be translated into French before judges decide on a hearing for his pre-trial detention.

The Pre-Trial Chamber of the tribunal issued a letter to the lawyers on Aug. 15, asking whether they would continue to demand that all the documents be translated. The chamber provided three dates to the lawyers to continue a hearing over Khieu Samphan's pre-trial detention: Sept. 8, Oct. 20 and Dec. 1.

Defense lawyer Sar Sovan confirmed Thursday the defense would require the documents be translated.

Tribunal officials have been translating the documents since April, when Khieu Samphan initially appeared before pre-trial judges. At the outset of the hearing, French defense lawyer Jacques Verges said he would be unable to defend his client effectively without translation of the case file.

Judges agreed to postpone the hearing.

"Unless all documents have been translated, my colleague and I will not be able to ensure the defense of Khieu Samphan," Sar Sovan said Thursday. "And if they decide to continue to try him, the trial will be unfair."

Khieu Samphan, 76, faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, for his role as the president of the Democratic Kampuchea regime. He has been detained since his arrest in November 2007.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said it was unclear which date Khieu Samphan could have a hearing, but translation of the case file continues.

The Pre-Trial Chamber will try to have Khieu Samphan's pre-trial detention hearing before proceedings start in the trial of prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, better known as Duch, Reach Sambath.

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 August 2008

The mangy dog eats and runs down the road
Look at it, pathetic and half- starved.
With no idea if it has an owner
No idea of it's weight of karma

From previous time. It's a Buddhist belief
That a realm of the angels has no suffering
One can live there carefree. eating one's fill.

Happy, relaxed, in total enjoyment.
Why it it, then, this canine forever
Turns here, scoots there, moves back, shifts away.

miserable sow, her body fiercely trembling.
Unable to undo the fast - bound knots.
Lashed to the motorbike, legs up and tied.
Nos matter how hard she moves , it's useless.

She shits and pisses on the motorbike.
It's like she's shrieking , a shrill imploring cry.
she knows her death is unavoidable.
why tie her down this way in torture?

Poor little mosquito, so hungry
It dares enter the net
At night, in utter dark and silence,
To stealthily suck some blood.

And once its stomach's full
Lives satisfied till dawn
Hushed, hiding in a corner - till
the blood
s rightful owner sneaks up, claps, and
kill it.

In the flower garden at daybreak;
blossoms of all colors fresh and sparkling
And dew-drops glittering like diamonds;
Butterflies flitter through, stalking the flowers.

Does the butter fly in fact feel ease.
Or is its fluttering a kind of labor -
This sucking out of nectar tasting of flowers
Just a means of sustenance for a body?

The flies come feed on filthy-smelling carrion.
Competing with each other in their love,

They swarm, a black entangle, pressing mass,
Savoring the exquisite taste of it.

Nature as born in the form of a fly
Won't find the flower fragrant or tasty,

Has no desire to sip the blossom's essence;
Its fate is tied to dead animal flesh.

Mother, when i was persuaded
To leave behind garden and rice farm
I was told there was work in the market town
Serving food in the a street corner eatery.

It was a treacherous abyss,
A house selling sensual pleasure.
A house selling women's flesh,
Your daughter's life's lost all meaning,
] mother, i dutifully send you some money, fresh and still wet
Stained by a virgin's blood
I offer up myself to life itself.

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Khmer Dictionary

The economy and oil have been key issues for both candidates

Mr Obama's tax cuts for "ordinary Americans" would be three times larger than Mr McCain's, he promised.

Mr McCain's economic adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin, countered that Mr McCain's tax cuts would help firms create jobs.

Speaking to the BBC World Service, both advisers clashed on how to end the US dependence on foreign oil.

In a debate between both advisers on the Business Daily programme, Mr Goolsbee said: "Barack Obama's tax cuts for ordinary Americans are three times larger than John McCain's."

"The way that John McCain's package ends up being three to four trillion dollars more is that they give humungous tax cuts to high income people and large corporations."

Small firms

In fact John McCain has no plans for cuts in personal income tax. But he does propose to cut the rate of corporation tax from 35% to 25% in an effort to revive the ailing US economy.

Mr Holtz-Eakin told the BBC: "In this economy in the past six months with over 400,000 jobs lost we've seen the small businesses - those with less than 50 employees - add 283,000 jobs."

He underlined the importance of not damaging those small businesses: "keep them in a position where they don't have onerous health care costs and mandates to provide expensive benefits to their employees."

Barack Obama says he will spend $50bn immediately to jump start the economy and introduce tax credits for working families.

He is also proposing to invest $150bn in clean energy over the next decade, creating 5 million new jobs.

Energy policies

Mr Goolsbee said the US had to make a commitment to wean itself off its dependence on oil.

John McCain believes that we have a dangerous exposure to imported oil Doug Holtz-Eakin, economic adviser to John McCain

"It is the mentality of the past eight years to listen to the oil companies that got us into this mess and we have to have a different energy policy to get out of it."

Mr Holtz-Eakin denied that John McCain would follow the same energy policy as George W Bush.

"John McCain believes that we have a dangerous exposure to imported oil," he said.

"It is his primary objective to put the United States in a position where it is no longer strategically exposed by this dependence.

"The first and foremost objective is to change the way Americans drive," he added.

Foreclosures

Mr Goolsbee warned that more Americans would lose their homes unless there were tighter controls on the mortgage industry.

He said failure to address the fundamental challenges of oversight of the housing market - an issue that Senator Obama identified 18 months ago - could prompt "a second wave of the foreclosure crisis in the United States."

Mr Holtz-Eakin said that John McCain would not be afraid to speak out in favour of free trade, even at a time when American jobs were being lost.

"Globalisation is an opportunity."

However he added: "Not everyone automatically gains from globalisation, and we do have an obligation to help those workers who do not instantly benefit to get an opportunity for the future."

By Greg Wood
North America business correspondent, BBC News

The Spanair flight had just taken off for the Canary Islands, at about 1430 local time (1230 GMT). It is thought that the left engine caught fire.

Helicopters were called in to dump water onto the plane. More than 70 ambulances were seen leaving the scene.

TV footage showed several people being carried away on stretchers.

The BBC's Steve Kingstone, in Madrid, said a grim line of emergency vehicles obscured the view of the crash scene.

"We heard a big crash. So we stopped and we saw a lot of smoke," he said.

Mr Moleno said he had seen as many as 20 people walking away from the wreckage.

A British man who witnessed the aftermath of the accident, Alan Gemmell, told the BBC: "The whole back end of the plane was just burnt to a crisp."

Safety record

Spanair flight JK 5022, bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, came down during or shortly after take-off from Terminal Four at Barajas.

TV footage showed the plane had come to rest in a field.

SPAIN'S WORST CRASHES 27 March 1977 583 people die in Los Rodeos, Tenerife, after two Boeing 747s collide - one Pan Am, one KLM. 23 April 1980 146 people die near Los Rodeos, Tenerife, as a Dan Air Boeing 727 crashes while attempting to land. 27 November 1983 181 people die, 11 survive, as an Avianca Boeing 747 crashes in the village of Mejorada del Campo, near Madrid, on its way to Barajas aiport. 19 February 1985 148 die when an Iberia Boeing 727 crashes into a TV mast near Bilbao.

Spanair's parent company, Scandinavian firm SAS, said the accident happened at 1423.

According to Spain's airport authority, Aena, the plane had been due to take off at 1300 local time.

No details of the nationalities of the passengers on board have yet been released.

A local emergency service official, Ervigio Corral, told Efe news agency that there were many children among the victims.

The plane was a codeshare flight with German airline Lufthansa, which said it was investigating whether German passengers were on board.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero was on his way to the scene after cutting short his holiday, his office said.

The aircraft was a MD82, a plane commonly used on short trips around Europe, aviation expert Chris Yates told the BBC.

He said Spanair had a very good safety record.

Reports say it was the first crash at Barajas airport, some 13km (8 miles) from central Madrid, since 1983.

People concerned for relatives or friends who might have been on board the plane can call Spanair's helpline on +34 800 400 200 (from inside Spain only).

Passengers 150-170 Cruise speed 504mph (811km/h) Length 45.1m (148ft)

Height 9m (29.5ft) Wing-span 32.8m (107.6ft) Maximum range 2,052 nautical miles (3,798km)

Cambodian tourism

The Kingdom of Cambodia

World map

Sam Rainsy

The Sam Rainsy Party filed more than 17,000 documents as evidence of vote fraud to the Constitutional Council Tuesday, in the party's final appeal contesting the results of July's election.

The leading opposition party maintains that the results of the elections, in which the ruling Cambodian People's Party claims to have won 90 of 123 National Assembly seats, are not valid.

The party, which has claimed 26 seats, has called for a nationwide re-vote, joined by the Human Rights Party in a denial of the results.

The National Election Committee ruled earlier this month the election results should stand, and the Council now has between 10 and 20 days to determine whether a hearing is necessary for the complaint.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has said he will wait to hear the results before determining whether to attempt to deadlock the government by boycotting a National Assembly swearing-in ceremony next month.

The SRP complaint included more than 100 administrative forms, numbered 1018, which the party claims was used in lieu of photo identification to add votes to the CPP count.

"We have additional, new evidence to support our complaint to the Constitutional Council," SRP lawyer Kong Sam On told reporters Tuesday. "We have witnesses, witness reports, form 1018, and nearly 20,000 voter's with their names omitted [from registries]."

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Tuesday he had no faith in the Constitutional Council.

"We've come here for hopelessness," he said. "But we must follow the procedure."

The Council's decision was likely to serve the interest of the CPP only, he said.

The Council has denied two previous SRP appeals. The Council upheld a fine against the party for insulting CPP leaders, and denied a hearing on the validity of the 1018 forms for voter registration.

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
19 August 2008

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Nato of bias and of trying to save the "criminal regime" in Tbilisi.

He insisted Moscow was not occupying Georgia and had no plans to annex the separatist region of South Ossetia.

Earlier, Nato demanded that Russia pull out its troops from Georgia as agreed in an EU-brokered ceasefire plan signed by both parties at the weekend.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev told his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in a phone call that the pull-out would be complete by 21-22 August, with the exception of some 500 troops, who will be installed in peacekeeping posts on either side of South Ossetia's border.

Some Russian troops have been seen leaving Gori, the largest Georgian town close to the South Ossetia border.

But BBC correspondents on the ground say there are still Russian artillery positions in place. In addition, there are Russian checkpoints close to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Both sides have accused the other of violating the peace plan, and correspondents say there has so far been little sign of any large-scale withdrawal.

Buffer zone

Following crisis talks in Brussels, Nato's 26 foreign ministers said in a joint statement that they could not have normal relations with Russia as long as Moscow had troops in Georgia.

PEACE PLAN No more use of force Stop all military actions for good Free access to humanitarian aid Georgian troops return to their places of permanent deployment Russian troops to return to pre-conflict positions International talks about security in South Ossetia and Abkhazia

"The Alliance is considering seriously the implications of Russia's actions for the Nato-Russia relationship," the statement said, read out by Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

"We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual."

Mr de Hoop Scheffer added that he could not see how the Nato-Russia Council - set up in 2002 as a framework for dialogue - could convene at this time.

But he said lines of communication would not be abandoned.

He also said that the member states had agreed to set up a Nato-Georgia commission to strengthen ties with Tbilisi, but stopped short of giving a timetable for Georgia's accession to Nato.

In a televised address, Russia's foreign minister underlined Moscow's view that Russian troops only entered South Ossetia after Georgia tried to reintegrate the breakaway region by force.

Sergei Lavrov accused Nato of being "unobjective and biased".

"It appears to me that Nato is trying to portray the aggressor as the victim, to whitewash a criminal regime and to save a failing regime," he said.

Earlier, the Russian military warned that the withdrawal would be slow until the weekend at least, and that troops would remain in an undefined buffer zone around South Ossetia.

It said such a move was permitted under the ceasefire deal which allowed Russia to take additional security measures until international peacekeepers were deployed.

But Georgia accused Moscow of going much further, saying Russian troops have seized control of a key commercial port in Poti in an attempt to cripple the Georgian economy.

Georgian officials told the BBC's Helen Fawkes, who was at the scene, that two of the Russian prisoners were airmen who had been shot down by Georgian forces about two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said Russia and Georgia had agreed to allow 20 extra military observers to be deployed in and around South Ossetia.

In total, the OSCE said it would send up to 100 additional monitors to join the handful it already has in Georgia.

The OSCE has had a presence in South Ossetia since the end of a civil war there in the early 1990s, which resulted in de facto independence for the region.

It also supports a UN-led peace process in Georgia's other separatist region of Abkhazia.

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France has 3,000 troops in Afghanist

A further 21 French soldiers were wounded in the attack - the heaviest loss of troops France has suffered since deploying to Afghanistan in 2002.

The soldiers were part of the Nato-led peacekeeping International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

President Nicolas Sarkozy will go to Afghanistan shortly, his office says.

News of the deaths is bound to provoke anger back home where around two-thirds of French people say they are opposed to any French involvement in the conflict, the BBC's Emma-Jane Kirby reports from Paris.

But President Sarkozy insisted France remained committed to the fight against terrorism and that the mission in Afghanistan would continue.

'Extremely violent'

The French troops had been caught up in fighting that started on Monday in the area of Sirobi some 50 km (30 miles) east of Kabul.

They were killed "during a joint reconnaissance mission with the Afghan national army", Mr Sarkozy said in a statement.

"Serious measures, notably in the air, were taken to support and extricate our men caught in an extremely violent ambush."

The French leader said his visit to Afghanistan would be to show his support for French troops there.

France has 3,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan. Tuesday's deaths bring to 24 the number killed since 2002, the French news agency AFP reports.

"The French were ambushed in a village after they left the Ozbin valley," an Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC.

"They were ambushed from several directions. The Taleban and al-Qaeda forces used heavy machine guns and other weapons. They fired from mountains and gardens."

The French recently took over control of the Kabul regional command which includes Sirobi.

Wave of attacks

The ambush came amid signs of deteriorating security in Afghanistan.

Taleban fighters have become more active near Kabul

Despite increased security in Kabul, two rockets were fired on the city overnight, landing close to the Isaf headquarters.

In the southern province of Kandahar a Nato patrol was struck by a roadside bomb.

And in the south-eastern province of Khost six suicide bombers were killed while attacking a Nato military base, Camp Salerno, Nato says.

Isaf confirmed that Camp Salerno had been attacked by rockets or mortars, and that a number of suicide bombers had tried to storm the base.

On Monday, nine Afghan civilians were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car into the gate of the same base.

Isaf said the numbers involved in Tuesday's attack were a lot smaller than the Taleban claimed.

However, the governor of Khost, Arsala Jamal was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying that two children were killed in the fighting and two more, along with a woman, were wounded.

Taliban fighters carried out a daring attack Tuesday on a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan, while fighting near Kabul left several French soldiers dead.

Afghan officials say six Taliban suicide bombers backed by gunmen detonated explosives outside Camp Salerno near the city of Khost.

The governor of Khost province, Arsala Jamal, says about 30 Taliban fighters attacked the base, but failed to breach the complex. He says the bodies of six suicide bombers have been found. Other Afghan officials say 13 militants died in the attack. At least four Afghan soldiers were wounded.

Meanwhile, officials say 10 French soldiers have been killed in a battle with insurgents about 50 kilometers east of Kabul. The officials say the clash outside the capital started with an attack on NATO's International Security Assistance Force on Monday.

Taliban suicide bombers also attacked Camp Salerno Monday, killing 10 people and wounding at least 13 others.

By VOA News
19 August 2008

He is accused of violation of the constitution and gross misconduct.

Mr Musharraf has been a key ally of the US in its "war on terror" since he took power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

Reaction in Pakistan is overwhelmingly one of relief that a bruising and lengthy impeachment battle has been avoided, the BBC's Mark Dummett reports from Islamabad.

I leave myself in the hands of the people

The key issue now is whether the ruling coalition, which had pushed for Mr Musharraf's exit since winning the February election, can stay united and deliver on its promises, he says.

It will have to agree on a new president, then persuade allies like the US and UK, and its neighbours like India and Afghanistan, that it will be committed to defeating militancy and terrorism, our correspondent adds.

International reaction to Mr Musharraf's resignation was mixed, with the US hailing him as strong ally against terrorism but Afghanistan welcoming his departure as a boost to democracy.

'No bravado'

Looking calm and dressed soberly in a dark suit and tie, President Musharraf said he had decided to resign after consulting his allies and advisers.

Lawyers in Karachi danced in jubilation at news of the resignation

In a defiant speech, he said he had believed it was his destiny to save Pakistan, helped by God, and that he had prevented it from being declared a terrorist state.

In a clear reference to his political opponents, he accused unnamed elements of putting themselves above the country and seeking to betray it.

"Not a single charge can be proved against me," he said, while conceding he had made mistakes.

An impeachment process would have plunged the country into more uncertainty, he said, and it was no time for "individual bravado".

The outgoing president listed social, economic and infrastructural improvements made during his rule.

"I leave myself in the hands of the people," he concluded.

After making his speech, the former military leader inspected a guard of honour outside his white palace in Islamabad, stepped into a black limousine and left the presidency.

Cheering crowds poured into the streets of Pakistan's big cities to celebrate Mr Musharraf's departure. In Karachi, lawyers danced in jubilation.

'A friend to the US'

Once Mr Musharraf's resignation letter is received and accepted by the speaker of Pakistan's lower house of parliament, the speaker of the upper house will take over as acting president.

MUSHARRAF KEY DATES 12 Oct 1999: Deposes PM Nawaz Sharif in coup 20 June 2001: Names himself president while remaining head of the army 12 Jan 2002: Declares war against extremism in Pakistan 14 December 2003: Survives first of several assassination plots 3 November 2007: Declares state of emergency before judiciary can rule on his re-election as president 28 November 2007: Steps down as army chief to become a civilian president 18 August 2008: Announces he will resign as president

He is Muhammad Mian Sumroo, a member of the pro-Musharraf faction of the Pakistan Muslim League.

The new president must be elected by both houses of Pakistan's parliament and the four provincial assemblies.

Reacting to news of the resignation, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised him as a "friend to the United States and one of the world's most committed partners in the war against terrorism and extremism".

She said the US would work with Pakistan's new leaders, pressing on them the need to stem "the growth of extremism".

The UK government wished Mr Musharraf well but stressed that relations did not depend on one individual.

India said it had no comment to make on the resignation since it was an internal matter of Pakistan.

Neighbouring Afghanistan, whose own President, Hamid Karzai, had a very fraught relationship with Mr Musharraf, hoped his departure would boost democracy in both countries.

Mounting pressure

Mr Musharraf's resignation followed more than a year of turbulence.

At least two people were killed by lightning strikes in Phnom Penh last week, police said.

Weather experts are warning citizens to take extra precautions during this rainy season, with a high number of deaths reported from lightning strikes in the city and the countryside.

Long Saravuth, director of the department of meteorology of the Ministry of Water Resources, said Monday the ministry has distributed an information booklet to help people in rural areas protect themselves from lightning.

At least two people died in Phnom Penh this week when they were hit by lightning, police said.

"We cannot prevent lightning strikes, but we can protect ourselves from them," Long Saravuth said.

By June, 35 people were killed by lightning, according to Disaster Management Committee figures, with much of the rainy season remaining. Last year, a total of 40 people died from lightning for the whole year.

In Cambodia, lightning strikes happen most in the provinces around the Tonle Sap lake, where conditions create turbulent cumulonimbus clouds, making lightning more common, Long Saravuth said.

In the city, lightning rods are used to protect people, he said, but these are not installed in the countryside.

In rural areas, when people walk in the open, they are the highest point around them and attract to lightning.

In the city, residents should ensure they have their houses properly wired and lightning rods installed. In the countryside, people should avoid working in fields during lightning storms. They should also avoid taking shelter directly under tall trees.

During a storm, people should remain at least 4 meters from tall trees, and they should avoid holding metal instruments, such as shovels or sickles.

The ministry plans to install lightning absorbing equipment around the Tonle Sap lake, which can help alleviate lightning and protect people in a 40-kilometer perimeter, but funds are not available to do so.

Nhim Vanda, vice president of the Disaster Management Committee, said it was difficult to prevent lightning in rural areas, because it can happen anywhere with no advance warning.

For Bor Savy, official warnings come too late. Her brother, Bor Thum, died this year in Kampong Cham province when he was hit by lightning as he dug in a canal during a storm.

Now, her family takes precautions by turning off the television and telephones during a storm.